THE STANDARD SERIES. ^ ^ "^ '■ 






A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL 



COMMENTARY 



ON 



THE BOOK OF EXODUS, 



WITH A 



NEW TRANSLATION. 



c/^ 



BY 

JAMES G-f MURPHY, D.D. T.C.D., 

PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, BELFAST. 



WITH PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION B7 

JOHN HALL D.D. 

JUI 9 1881 

NEW YOEK: v ;; ^fwa5h ^^ 

I. K. FUNK & CO., Publishers, 
10 AND 12 Dey Street. 

1881. 



'7r 






Copyright, 1881, 
By I. K. FUNK & CO. 






PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



The Rev. Db. Muephy has, by long, faithful, and efeective discharge of his duties 
as an instructor, secured the confidence of the British public. A minister of the 
Gospel, and a useful and edifying preacher, he became known to a generation, now 
in middle life, as an efEective teacher in the Royal Academical I^titution, Belfast, 
Ireland, from which for many years went forth the educated men who have, like Lord 
Cairns in England, and many in America, India, and Australia, rendered distinguished 
public service in all the professions. 

Nearly forty years ago the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 
decided on the establishment of a theological college, substantially the same in plan 
and relations with Princeton and Yale seminaries— in close sympathy with adjoining 
colleges, and at the same time under the control of the Church. To the chair of Hebrew 
Dr. Murphy was appointed. His career has been uniform, useful in a high degree, and 
eminently influential in promoting the critical and exegetical study of the Old Testa- 
ment. He has reached the period of life when most men are supposed to be entitled 
to honorable rest ; but his energies have suffered no abatement, and they who see him 
among his students, or taking his part in the benevolent work of the great centre with 
which he has been so long identified, or enjoying summer leisure among books and 
scholars in London, would hardly realize that he has been a foremost and most labori- 
ous educator for half a century. 

Though not a student under the care of Dr. Murphy, it has been my privilege to be 
associated with him in many objects of common interest ; and if the issue of this vol- 
ume should carry his thoughts into new circles of readers, there will be to me the 
great pleasure of making a valued friend known where, until later, his influence would 
not have been appreciated. 

The plan of Dr. Murphy in his Commentaries on the early books of the Bible has 
been his own. Brief critical notes — no more lengthened than a careful reader 
acquainted with Hebrew requires -precede an original translation of the sections. 
Then follow the explanations, in which, without nicely marking off the exegetical or 
the critical from the theological, or even the devotional, the effort is made to reflect to 
an ordinary reader the mind of the Spirit. The results of wide reading, of careful 
and most conscientious study, and of long-continued application of revealed truth to 
the conscience and the life of men, are presented in a style which not unfitly represents 
the simplicity, modesty, and clear directness of the author. 

That this estimate of Dr. Murphy as a commentator is not formed through the par- 
tiality of a friend will appear from the fact that when his Commentary on Genesis 
appeared, Dr. Thompson of New York pronounced it " the most thorough, satisfactory 
and exhaustive Commentary upon the book of Genesis that has yet been written in the 
English language." 



4 PREFACE TO THE AMERICANS EDITION. 

The reasons which, to say the least, justify the reissue of Dr. Murphy's " Exodus" may 
be briefly stated. In the first place, the second half of the present year is devoted to 
the study of this book in the Sunday-schools using the International system. The 
great majority of the Sunday-school teachers of America adopt this arrangement, and 
it is known that the best of them eagerly avail themselves of the most useful helps they 
can find. To aid them in a work so full of blessing to the people of the land, and so 
often done by them in the face of difficulties and under the pressure of many other 
imperative engagements, is itself motive enough for adding to the list of books of in- 
terpretation. 

But, in the second place, this work is especially adapted to their needs. It does not 
occupy space and time with the processes of critical inquiry, but lucidly states re- 
sults. It does not bewilder with long and formal catalogues of diverse and contradic- 
tory interpretations, but presents that which in the writer's judgment is adequately 
sustained. Its exm)sitions are intelligible to ordinary English readers, while its learn- 
ing is sufficiently apparent to inspire the confidence of ministers and others accus- 
tomed to examine and compare the various forms of exegetical apparatus. 

It is, it may be further stated, a recommendation of this work that it gives a re- 
vision of our translation. In 1863 Dr. Murphy published a new rendering of Genesis, 
when the whole idea of revision was less familiar to the public than it has since be- 
come ; and while it naturally aroused criticism at the time, it is no mean tribute to the 
worth of the work that it has grown in public favor. The late revision of the New 
Testament (whatever may be thought of its merits), and the fact that the Old Testa- 
ment is undergoing a corresponding process, tend to give interest to this earlier and 
reverent attempt to improve our translation. 

And, finally, the fact that our author has never been a mere critic, or even a pro- 
fessor exclusively devoted to the duties of a chair, but that he is actively interested in 
all Christian work, and a very frequent preacher of the Everlasting Gospel, secures — 
what one so often misses with regret in otherwise valuable works, namely — the prac- 
tical uses and applications for spiritual ends of the truths elucidated. This con- 
sideration alone gives the work a peculiar fitness for the table of the Sabbath-school 
teacher, who is intent not only on showing ichat God has said, but what use we are to 
make of the statements now that we understand them. 

But it would be to present a partial view of this work if we confined attention to its 
adaptation to the requirements of the Sabbath-school teacher. Dr. Murphy is conver- 
sant with the best literature on the Old Testament. He is keenly alive to the ardor 
and apparent force of the assaults on the older books of inspiration, both from the 
side of a narrow criticism and a broad science. He has never allowed these to be out 
of his view in his work ; and in many a passage, not formally controversial, there is 
the sufficient rejoinder to the arbitrary writer who would parcel out the book among 
various authors, or to the self-complacent scientist, who cannot separate in his mind 
between the medium of current and familiar language— the only language the recipi- 
ents of revelation could understand— and the new and unfamiliar truth which consti- 
tutes the revelation, and patiently does its work among a hundred imperfect or 
perverted views of it, in renewing and sanctifying men and lifting up the whole re- 
ligious and social structure. 

With this estimate of the work, it is sent forth in American dress and at a price bring, 
ing it within the reach of multitudes of Christian workers not approached hitherto by 
such aids, with some measure of the prayerful spirit in which, I am sure, from my 



AUTHOR S PEEFACE. 

knowledge of the author, the undertaking was carried through by him. Dr. Murphy's 
bearing always suggests to those who know him the qualities of Paul's fellow- worker 
— "a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." May the sequel to this lofty 
description of excellence be here also realized in a good degree, through the book — 
" much people was added unto the Lord." J, HALL. 

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, 
June, 1881. 



AUTHOK'S PREFACE 



If the one God make a world and write a book, it is to be expected that nature and 
Scripture will agree. But their interpreters may differ. It is notorious that there has 
been a philosophy that was only vain deceit — a science falsely so called. This was 
simply a false interpretation of nature. It could not be presumed that such would 
agree with the Bible. It is equally well known that false principles of interpretation 
have been ax3plied to the Scripture, the results of which have also been at variance 
with nature. Admitting, however, the word and the work to come both from God, men, 
v/ith the narrow and partially erroneous philosophy of their day, have endeavored to 
harmonize them. In doing so they have in some instances imposed a sense upon 
Scripture which has eventually turned out to be incongruous with the conclusions of 
a wider and more exact philosophy. But while the former results of speculative and 
scientific inquiry have been modified or reversed, it has been generally taken for 
granted that the old meanings attached to those portions of Scripture that touch upon 
physical or metaphysical phenomena remain true and incontrovertible. 

It is to be remembered, however, that these meanings flowed from minds otherwise 
well cultivated, but at the same time imbued with the errors of their day on physical 
and other questions. Their mistaken preconceptions insensibly guided their inter- 
pretation ; and hence they found in Scripture, and fixed upon it, the prejudices of a 
dogmatic science. And there are actually men of critical and cultivated minds, open to 
the advancing and astonishing disclosures of modern science, who reject with im- 
patience, and x)ronounce to be ingenious trifling, any attempt at an interpretation of 
Scripture free from the prejudices of the past and in harmony with the science of the 
present. They assume that the interpreter has already done all justice to these parts 
of Scripture, and regard it as a settled point that this venerable record of the past is, 
and must have been, out of harmony with the present state of science. 

If the Scripture was a book of merely human origin we might acquiesce in this con- 
clusion. In that case, being composed, most of it long before the Christian era, and 
all of it long before the era of physical science, it must have partaken of the errors of 
its age. And the wonder would be, not that it contains the few errors on physical 
questions which some interpreters find in it, but that it does not contain a multitude 
of others common to the ages in which it was produced. The Mosaic cosmogony, his- 



6 author's preface. 

tory, and philology, even according to the common interpretation, solve questions, 
which without their aid specidation and science have attempted in vain. It. need 
scarcely be added that the theology and ethics of the Pentateuch, not to speak of the 
New Testament, far transcend all the attainments of unassisted human reason. The 
appearance of such a volume in such an age is simply unaccountable on the hypothe- 
sis of its human origin. 

The Scripture, however claiming and proving itself in so many ways to be of divine 
origin and authority, is clearly as liable to be misinterpreted as nature. It is posi- 
tively more so. Nature comes directly from the hand of God, and shows no traces of 
a human hand, except what havoc sin has wrought in man. Yet it has been long and 
grievously misapprehended by the haste or pride of its interpreters. But Scripture 
comes from God through the minds and utterances of men. Hence it expresses the 
revelations of God in the phraseology of untutored or misinformed man. It presents, 
therefore, an incidental element of relative imperfection in the mode of expression. 
How much more, then, is it liable to be misunderstood by an interpreter, who is him- 
self led astray by the errors of his own or past times ? 

A free and fair thinker will feel that a divine communication, if such may be, must 
achieve the difficult, and to man impossible, task of conveying a system of truth in 
the imperfect vehicle of human language, without coming into real conflict with the 
facts of nature. Now it is plain that a communication so expressed, though it be in 
fundamental harmony with nature, may appear not to be so from casual phrases, 
which convey a fact, indeed, plainly enough, but in terms which involve an old or 
popular misconception regarding it. Thus when we say, "the sun sets," the event 
intended is adequately expressed, and perfectly understood, though the terms fail to 
give a strictly accurate account of what actually takes place. And only when we have 
succeeded in disentangling the error unavoidably belonging to the medium of com- 
munication are we at liberty to regard the meaning remaining in the words as the 
statement intended by the sacred record. Hence, in receiving a divine revelation 
couched in human words, it is only fair that we discount any error that may incident- 
ally lurk in the ordinary phraseology of the time. 

This law for the exposition of a divine record, though evident in itself, and 
demanded by equity, has yet had to force its way in all ages to acceptance and author- 
ity. When Galileo, in the seventeenth century, proclaimed that the earth had a 
diurnal motion on its axis, and an annual motion round the sun, he was condemned 
for teaching what was contradictory to the assertions of the Bible. His judges were 
not aware, or did not admit, of the fair and obvioas principle of interpretation which 
has now received a partial recognition. No one now maintains that the Scriptures 
assert that the earth stands still, while the sun performs a diurnal revolution in 
twenty-four hours. Yet there are men in this nineteenth century who regard with 
hesitation, if they do not turn away with undisguised distrust, from any attempt to 
apply this or any other equally fair rule of hermeneutics to those portions of the Bible 
which are presumed to be repugnant to the conclusions of physical science. "We 
could understand this, if its divine authority were to be abandoned. But with its 
claim to be given by inspiration of God before us, we submit that it is as weU entitled 
to an amended interpretation as nature itself. Natural science receives a constant 
readjustment as new facts disclose themselves to the enlightened observer. Biblical 
science has a still more pressing claim to a similar reconstruction, inasmuch as it has 
long suffered from a defective mode of elucidation, not based on a fair estimate of 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 7 

itself, but biassed by a false view of nature. The interpreter of nature amends his 
method under the force of accumulated experience. Let the interpreter of Scripture 
enjoy the same right. Especially let him be released from the bondage which the 
vain philosophy of a bygone age has imposed upon him. Liberated from the preju- 
dices of the past, and standing in the light of present science, let him at least make 
the attempt to interpret Scripture as the word of God, that must be in real harmony 
with the works of God. It will be time enough to abandon the theory of divine inspi- 
ration when right principles of hermeneutics, freely and fairly applied, fail to bring 
out a meaning that will be in harmony with the indubitable facts of nature. 

The same line of reasoning applies to moral and metaphysical questions as to 
physical. Let us fully apprehend the foundations of our mental philosophy before we 
make it the standard by which we are to test the morals of Scripture. And let us be 
scrupulously faithful in ascertaining what is the precise meaning of Scripture, before 
we pronounce it to be at variance with any first principle of ethical or metaphysical 
truth. 

The interpretation of the Book of Genesis, offered by the present writer to the 
public in 1863, was the issue of an attempt to ascertain the meaning of that venerable 
portion of holy writ according to exegetical rules, which reviewers have admitted to 
be just, and one has even pronounced it to be a series of truisms. Some results of 
this interpretation were, if not new, yet sufiiciently remarkable. The record of the 
primeval creation was found to be contained in the first verse of Genesis. The state 
of at least a portion of the surface of the earth antecedent to the six days of creative 
effort is described in the second verse. The creation narrated in the remainder of 
the first chapter is partial in regard both to time and place, being accomplished in six 
literal days, and confined in range to that portion of the earth's surface which was 
declared in the second verse to be waste, void, and dark. The deluge is limited to a 
stiU narrower area, extending only to the region inhabited by man. The ark was 
designed and constructed to preserve only such animals of a domestic and harmless 
kind as might have become extinct, because they were limited in range. It did not, 
therefore, receive animals residing in more distant regions, or belonging to an earlier 
creation. The six days' creation, moreover, furnishes an instance of a local centre of 
creation, and consequently favors the presumption of other local and previous centres 
of creation for different orders of animal and vegetable life. These, and other similar 
results, are elicited from the text, it is submitted, by a natural and unstrained inter- 
pretation. 

It may be said that in both these cases the terms of the descriptions are universal, 
and the interpretation has been uniformly so. But it is to be remembered that there 
was a universality at first both in regard to man and the objects known to him. And 
hence the terms of the text agree with the original compass of human experience. 
But when the terms land, animal, etc., come to have an extent of meaning beyond 
what was known or contemplated in primeval times, it is manifest that an error may 
be insensibly imported into the sense ; because what applied to these terms in their 
original extension may not be true of the new parts of their extension. And this error 
will progressively increase in amount until the land becomes the terraqueous globe, 
and the animals comprise all the species existing thereupon. 

The present volume on Exodus is a second contribution to the exposition of the Old 
Testament, and to the practical demonstration that a just interpretation of the volume 
of inspiration will obviate supposed difficulties, v/hich have arisen mainly from mis- 



8 author's preface. 

apprehension, and bring out more strikingly and nnif ormly its essential harmony with 
science, reason, and history. It removes, in the author's apprehension, any impossi- 
bilities that may have seemed to lie in the natural events that are recorded in the 
narrative. This is a matter of the first importance, not only in regard to the credi- 
bility of the history, but in reference to the origin and structure of the whole Penta- 
teuch. For while the historical validity of the document stands, the free handling, 
by which the text is parcelled out and distributed among a succession of authors, the 
earliest of whom lived centuries after the events occurred, loses the basis on which 
alone it can be securely erected ; and the evidence for its Mosaic authorship rests 
upon a foundation which cannot be moved. 

The resources for the vindication of the historical veracity of the narrative in Exo- 
dus are far from being exhausted. The elucidation of Egyptian history by the labors 
of Lepsius, Eawlinson, Hincks, Talbot, and others ; the restoration of its chronologj^ 
to which Dr. Hincks has contributed some most interesting and valuable papers ; the 
investigation of the historical and anthropological traces which remain of the migra- 
tions or ancient tribes ; and the conclusions of a thoroughly discussed theory of 
national and social economy, •will yet throw a flood of light on the exodus of Israel and 
the events consequent upon it. The profounder investigations of ethical and political 
questions, and the prosecution of the abstruse but important and practical inquiry 
into the mode of training families and nations in the conception, reception, and per- 
petuation of true ideas, beliefs, and cognitions respecting God, and their practical 
relation to him, will also open the way for a juster comprehension of the meaning of 
Exodus, as well as the other books of the Pentateuch, 

Such, indeed, is the apologetic view of the bearing of those studies on the book. 
But the real character of the books of Moses, as the primeval portion of the word of 
God, precisely reverses this bearing. The Pentateuch is the light of revelation shed- 
ding its salubrious beams on those questionings of the spirit of man, on those themes 
which have been darkened and confused by the entrance of sin. And when men come 
to acknowledge the divine authority, and penetrate into the true meaning of this 
second book of it, this book of moral resolvings and teachings and doings, they will 
find in it a safe guide to new and sound views of ethical, political, and educational 
science. It would not be easy to exaggerate the importance of that book which 
recounts the separation of the chosen people of God from the world, the giving of the 
moral law, and the setting up of the tabernacle, which symbolizes the way of recon- 
ciliation and communion with God. 

The method of exposition ]3ursued in this volume, as well as in that in Genesis, is 
the following : First, the general arrangement and division of topics in the book are 
brought under notice. Next, at the head of each section, a few prominent words are 
quoted and briefly expounded, for the sake of readers acquainted with Hebrew, who 
are supposed to peruse the section in the original. Then follows a translation of the 
section, which is designed to be a mere revision of the Authorized Version. This the 
reader will compare with the original, or with the corresponding portion of his English 
Bible. The commentary then appended is designed to explain the momentous import 
of the historical facts recorded, to mark their bearing on the highest interests of man, 
and to unfold the great principles of ethical and theological truth which are stated for 
his guidance and comfort. These are obviously the weightiest questions that can 
engage the attention of man. Certain and definite answers on these all-important 
topics are to be found in the books of revelation, and in no other quarter. We have, 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 9 

therefore, the strongest motives to examine the Scriptures, to make ourselves 
acquainted with their profoundly interesting contents, and to avail ourselves of the 
information they convey to escape the penal consequences of sin and enter upon the 
path of everlasting life. 

In pursuing such investigations as these, the writer has not occupied much space 
with those questions of literary criticism which are now ably discussed in introduc- 
tions to the Bible and in biblical dictionaries. He has refrained in general from 
bewildering the reader with the enumeration of a series of incongruous opinions, and 
has been sparing in the quotation of authorities for every particular statement made. 
In this way he has endeavored to economize space for a more full discussion, though 
in as concise a form as possible, of all that bears upon the ways of God with man. 
The difficulties that are started in the publications of the day have received a large 
share of attention ; and whatever seemed to be the best mode of obviating their force 
has been uniformly indicated in an incidental way. And, at the risk of some appear- 
ance of dogmatism, it has been made a point in all important cases if possible to 
arrive at and to offer to the reader a decided opinion. 

The author has made some contributions toward a formal and direct reply to 
recent objections to the Pentateuch. But he is content for the present with offering 
to the reader a second instalment of the positive argument for the authority and his- 
torical validity of that venerable document in this attempt at the exegetical elucida- 
tion of the book of Exodus. The right understanding of the Book of God is aU the 
vindication it needs with the earnest reader. 



INTRODUCTION 



IX. EXODUS.* 



The Book of Exodus is tlie record of a new development in the ways of God with 
man. This is the departure of the chosen people out of Egypt. They went into that 
land a family ; they came out a people. They entered as the honored and indepen- 
dent relatives of the Prime Minister of State ; they departed as the fugitive serfs of a 
despotic and oppressive government. They took up their abode in Goshen at a time 
when the nations stiU retained some knowledge of the true God, some remembrance 
of his covenant with man, and some sense of his claim upon their reverence ; they 
marched forth from the land of their sojourning at an epoch when the iniquity of the 
Amorites was full, when, whatever might be the case with a rare individual or tribe, 
the nations had corrupted the knowledge of God, disregarded his covenant, and wan- 
dered into the devious paths of will-worship. Apostasy from the truth on the loftiest 
themes of history had become the characteristic of the nations, when God brought 
forth from the bondage of Egypt into the sphere of conspicuous observation the 
nation whom he foreknew, to be the keepers of his sacred oracles and ordinances, the 
accepted parties to his holy and gracious covenant, and the maintainers and eventual 
disseminators of his pure and spiritual worship on earth. This great act is the topic 
of the Book of Exodus. 

From this glance at its contents, it is manifest that it is not the full counterpart of 
Genesis. That venerable document is matched in grandeur of scope not even by the 
rest of the Pentateuch, but only by the remainder of the volume of revelation. It 
opens with a creation, of which man forms the prominent object ; the Old Testament 
closes with the anticipation of a new creation (Isa. 65 : 17), in which also man will 
hold the conspicuous place ; and the New Testament records the atoning obedience 
of Christ and the quickening work of the Holy Ghost, as the guarantee and earnest 
of that new creation, the consummation of which it again announces to the church 
(2 Pet. 3 : 13). Genesis also touches upon the history of the whole race of man, and 
even after the caU of Abraham traces the peaceful intercourse subsisting between the 
chosen family and the rest of mankind. Exodus marks the full-grown antagonism 
between the chosen nation and the heathen world, records the violent separation 
between the two, and then confines itself mainly to the history of the party that 
remained in communion with God. Its distinguishing event, the exodus, is accord- 
ingly the prototj^e of that great event in the experience of the individual in which 
he comes out from the bondage of the flesh into the freedom of the Spirit, as weU ag 

* In a valuable "Introduction" to Genesis, our author had numbered his analysis of that book 
VIII. Desiring, no doubt, to preserve the sequence of his work, this section is numbered IX. We 
retain the division, as some of our readers may possess the other works of Dr. Murphy.— J. H. 



12 INTRODUCTIOK. 

of those great occasions in the history of the church in which it reasserts its spiritual 
life and liberty, and passes with all the determination of new-born principle from 
the wilful service of sin into the conscientious obedience of holiness. This coming 
out is a process continually going on during the history of the church until all have 
come out, and the doomed world is given over to everlasting destruction. 

It is the manner of Scripture to signalize the primary event in any given series as a 
lesson and example to all future generations. In Genesis are recorded all kinds of 
origins or births, and among others, the birth of Isaac, the seed of promise. In 
Exodus is recounted the deliberate action of the new-born, in coming out of the land 
of bondage. The wilderness between this land and the land of promise, the troubles, 
temptations, and failings of such a state of life, the giving of the law to a new-born 
and emancipated people, the setting up of the ordinances of a holy religion, are all 
typical events, prefiguring others of a like nature, but of still grander and grander 
import. They do not stand alone on memory's tablet, but embody a principle of 
constant value, which comes out in a series of analogous events in the course of hu- 
man affairs. They are standing monuments in the great field of the past, written in 
legible characters on the page of history for the instruction of coming days. They 
lodge in the mind of man the principles which they exemplify, never afterward to be 
dislodged from the hereditary wisdom of the race. History has been said to be X3hi- 
losophy teaching by examples, and this is nowhere so true as in that history which 
describes events from a heavenly point of view, selects them with a divine intuition 
of their exemplary character, and places them on record for the express purpose of 
instilling into men's hearts the great principles of sacred truth. 

The scope of the Book of Exodus, however, is not to be limited to the mere fortunes 
of the chosen people. Even if it stood alone, its communications could not be con- 
fined to so narrow an area. But preceded by the Book of Generis, and forming a con- 
tinuation of that work, it has an essential and important bearing on the destinies of 
the whole race of man. It details a certain stage of that momentous process, by which 
the covenant of God v/ith man is to be upheld, and its benefits secured for a growing 
proportion of our fallen race, until at length the main body, at least, of all kindreds 
and tongues returns to God. This imparts a new dignity to the record now before us, 
and imposes a higher significance on the characteristic events which it celebrates. 
The chosen nation are interesting no longer merely on account of themselves as an 
end contemplated by the Great Designer, but on account of their paramount impor- 
tance as a means of incalculable blessing to the whole family of man. The oracles of 
God flow forth in gradual stream from the mouths of their prophets. The system of 
symbolic ordinances shadowing forth the way of salvation is set up and administered 
among them. The Messiah, who v/as revealed in these oracles and foreshadowed 
by these ordinances, is to be born of this people to make a propitiation not only for 
their sins, but for those of the whole world, fulfil the requirements of the ancient 
covenant on behalf of man, and so to receive the heathen for his inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. In the exodus of this peculiar jieople 
out of Egypt, therefore, we are in the very pathway of that great transaction b}^ which 
he v/ith whom one day is as a thousand j^ears, and a thousand years as one day, will 
eventually bring ail the nations of man again into reconciliation with himself. This 
is the sublimest enterprise in which the interests of man can be concerned. 

This book is a regular and orderly piece of composition. Hence it admits of easy 
analysis into its component parts. The exodus itself is the central event of the drama, 



IKTRODCJCTIOI^. 13 

and is embraced in six chapters (13-18.) That whicli precedes naturally falls into 
two parts : the first of which recounts the bondage of Israel in Egypt, with the rise of 
the leader in this great movement, in six chapters (1-6) ; the second narrates the ten 
plagues or momentous strokes of judgment, by which the opposition of the Egyptian 
monarch is overcome, and the way opened for the exodus of the liberated people, in 
other six chapters (7-12). The portion of the book which follows the main act is 
also divided between two important topics, the lawgiving and the tabernacle. The 
former occupies six chapters more (19-24), and the latter extends over the remain- 
ing sixteen ; of which seven (25-31) contain the specifications concerning the 
tabernacle, its furniture, and officials ; three (32-34) relate a wild outbreak of 
will-worship among the people who had jast escaped from bondage ; and the last six, 
(35-40) record the construction of the tabernacle and the commencement of the 
divinely instituted national worship. 

This book is composed in the customary style and method of the sacred writer. It 
forms a complete whole, and closes with a crowning event. The writer has this end in 
view throughout the work, and advances to it with unde\iating tenacity of purpose. 
Hence he omits those collateral topics, which are not essential to the main thread of 
his narrativ^e, and tend to disturb the unity and mar the effect of the whole. These 
he will take up hereafter in their appropriate connection. 

The following table exhibits the arrangement of the book, as indicated above : 



r I. Israel oppressed in Egypt, 1. 

Section I. J II. Moses born and bred, ii. 



Bondage in Egypt. | III. Moses called and commissioned, iii., iv. 
[ IV. Moses enters on his oflice, v., vi. 

f V. The first three plagues, vii.,viii. 19. 

Section II. ! VI. The second three plagues, viii. 20-ix. 12. 

The Ten Plagues. 1 VII. The third three plagues, ix. 13-x, 

[ VIII. The tenth plague. Passover. xi., xii. 

Section III. j IX. The escape of Israel, xiii.-xv. 

The Exodus. "j X. Journey from Elim to Sinai, xvi.-xviii. 

Section IV. j XI. The Moral Law, xix., xx. 

The Lawgiving. ( XII. The Civil Law, xxi.-xxiv. 

Section V ( XIII. Plan of the Tabernacle, xxv.-xxxi. 

The Tabernacle 1 ■^^^- ^^^® ^^^^ breach of the Covenant, xxxii.-xxxiv. 

( XV. The Tabernacle made and set up, xxxv.-xl. 



COMMENTARY. 



PART III.- 

SECTIOISr I.— THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT. 

I. ISRAEL OPPRESSED IN EGYPT.— Ex. 1. 

11. c^ tribute, levy, task, work done by a serf for Ms Lord. Keil understands 
by it the serf or socager himself. But Esther 10 : 1 is against this. CDD 
Pithom, UtiQi'd in Sept., is identified with Udrov/LioS in Herod, ii. 158 ; or, omitting 
the Egyptian article, Qovfi in the later geographers. Brugsch derives it from pa, 
abode, and Turn or Atum, the sun after setting. COOyi Raamses, Ta/ueaar/ in Sept. 
It is rendered " son of Ra," the sun, who was worshipped at On or Heliopolis. 

15. niDIS^ Shiphrah, brightness, beauty. r[]}^D Pu-'ah for p^^^^'^ splendor (Si- 
monis). 

16. □"iJ2i^ potter'' s wheel, birth-stool. This word occurs only twice in Scripture. 
In Jer. 18 : 3 it denotes the potter's wheel. In the present passage it seems to 
signify the receptacle into which the new-born infant comes from the womb. 
Both these utensils may have been originally of stone (]n{^^). Gen, 28 : 11. 

21. CTlZ DH/ ttf^^"^l ^^<^ made them houses, gave them not only husbands, but 
children, who constitute families. The pronoun CH i^ masculine. But the 
plural masculine is occasionally applied to the female. (See Gen. 31 : 9). 

22, -^j^*! a river, in Memphitic iaro, in Sahidic iero, a term generally applied to 
the Nile. 

I. 1. And these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Mizraim ; every 
man and his household came with Jacob. 2. Eeuben, Simon, Levi, and Judah, 3. 
Issakar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5. And all 
the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy souls : and Joseph was 
already in Mizraim. 6. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 
7. And the sons of Israel were fruitful, and increased and multiplied, and waxed ex- 
ceedingly mighty ; and the land was filled with them. ^ 1. 

8. Then arose a new king over Mizraim, who knew not Joseph. 9. And he said unto 
his people, Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 

Dr. Murphy divides Genesis into two great portions : I. the Creation, and II. the development 
of things created from the beginning to the deaths of Jacob and Joseph. Hence he numbers Exodus 
Part III. in a continuous narrative.— J. H. 



16 ISRAEL OPPRESSED IK EGYPT. 

10. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that 
a war falleth out, and they also join with those that hate us, and fight against us, and 
get up out of the land. 11. And they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with 
their burdens : and they built treasure-cities for Pharoh, Pithom and Eaamses. 12. 
And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied and spread : and they were vexed 
because of the sons of Israel. 13. And Mizraim made the sons of Israel serve with 
rigor. 14. And they embittered their life with hard service, in clay and in brick, and 
in all service in the field ; with all their service which they laid on them with rigor, 

15. And the king of Mizraim said to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of 
the one was Shiphrah and the other Puali. 16. And he said, When ye deliver the 
Hebrew women and look upon the stool, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, and if 
it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17. And the midwives feared God, and did not 
as the king of Mizraim spake unto them, but saved the men-children alive. 18. And 
the king of Mizraim called the midv/ives, and said unto them. Why have ye done this 
thing, and saved the men-children alive ? 19. And the midwives said unto Pharoh, 
Because the Hebrew women are not like the Mizrite women ; for they are lively, and 
have brought forth ere the midwife comes in unto them. 20. And God dealt well 
with the midwives : and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. 21. And it 
came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22. And 
Pharoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the 
river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. ^ 2. 

It is the custom of the sacred writer to note the great moments and turning-points 
in the history of God's dealings with man, and to pass lightly over the current of 
events that flow naturally from the tendency thus given. The entrance into Egypt 
was one of those leading movements ; the departure from it is another. The inter- 
vening period of two hundred and ten years is summed up in the chapter before us, 
if we except certain events relative to Jacob and Joseph, which wind up the settle- 
ment of the chosen family in Egypt, and a few circumstances concerning Moses which 
are introductory to the national migration. The present chapter recounts the extraor- 
dinary increase of the family of Israel, and the ineffectual measures taken by the 
king of Egypt to check their growth. 

1-7. The increase of the chosen seed. Here the historian, after the manner of 
Hebrew composition, goes back to the descent of Israel into Egypt as the starting- 
point of the new train of events about to be related. And these are the names. The 
recapitulation of the heads of houses in Jacob' s family prepares the way for the vast 
augmentation about to be recorded. Of Israel. This word is here well chosen. The 
significance of the name, and the occasion of its application, still lived in the memory 
of the patriarch's posterity. The outward privileges of the prince that had power with 
God and with man descended to them, and the inward character that corresponded 
with such a parentage was no doubt to be found in many of them. And now that the 
estrangement of the nations from the true God was become general and obvious, it 
was the more necessary that the chosen family should be reminded by this sacred 
name of the high destiny to which they were called. Every man and his house. They 
were already distributed into twelve houses, when they went down into Egypt. The 
sons of Leah are placed first, Benjamin son of Eachel next, and afterward the four 
sons of the handmaids. Seventy souls. Jacob himself is included among the seventy 
souls, the natural head being essential to the unity and integrity of the family. The 
Sept. here has seventy-five (see on Gen. 46 : 27). Joseph is now mentioned apart from 
the others, because he had been in the country before them. 6. And all that generation. 
As some of those who descended with Jacob were mere infants, more than half of the 
two hundred and ten years would have elapsed before their decease. This would 



EXODUS I. 8-22. 17 

bring us within twenty years of tlie birth of Moses. 7. The rapid growth of Israel 
into a nation is the fact of this paragraph. It is expressed, as usual in Hebrew, by a 
climax of verbs : were fruitful is taken from the vegetable world, in which the increase 
varies from a small multiple to several hundreds-fold ; increased (spawned, swarmed) 
is borrowed from the finny tribes, in which the rate of increase rises to many myriads ; 
multiplied is a general v^^ord referring to number ; and waxed exceedingly migldy is a 
similar phrase alluding to the strength which numbers confer, composed of a verb and 
an adverb repeated, and therefore well adapted to complete the climax. Then follows 
the result, the land icas filled with them. It is quite evident that this statement implies 
a rate of increase amazingly higher than that which was usual in those days, and still 
higher than any that can be found in the present crowded state of the world. The 
circumstances were favorable for such an increase. They had scope and verge in a 
wide and thinly-peopled country ; and they were placed in the best of the land (Gen. 
47 : 11). These advantages alone, however, could not account for their accelerated 
growth ; for the Egyptians were not much less favored in these respects. But the 
blessing of Jehovah, the God of promise, was now realized to them. After a long 
delay the word came to Israel, the third patriarch : " I am God Almighty ; be fruitful 
and multiply : a nation and a congregation of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall 
come out of thy loins" (Gen. 35 : 11), We see also the effect of the migration into 
EgjT)t. In Kenaan the inevitable tendency was to lose all family distinction, and 
merge into the nations of that country. Only in a border land, on territory specially 
ceded to them by a people who had a national antipathy to their pursuits, could a 
select nation have grown up without coalescing in blood, in language, and in institu- 
tions with the surrounding tribes. Hence in Goshen the chosen family grows in two 
hundred and ten years into the chosen nation, destined to witness among the nations 
for the unity, spirituality, and mercy of the Creator of all. 

8-22. The unwarrantable measures taken by the king of Egypt to check the growth 
of the people. These were three : to impose slave labor, to enjoin the midwives to 
slay the male children as soon as born, and to command his people to throw the male 
infants into the river. A new king over Mizraim. Joseph was thirty-nine years old 
when his kindred settled in Egypt, lived to the age of one hundred and ten, and there- 
fore died seventy-one j^ears after that settlement. We may suppose that all the gen- 
eration that came down into Egj^pt died one hundred and ten years after the same 
event. In the mteiwal between this and the birth of Moses arose this " new king over 
Mizraim." The chronology of the early period of Egyptian history has not yet been 
definitely settled. It is probable, however, that at the time in question there were two 
or more contemporary sovereigns reigning in different parts of what we now call 
Egj^t : one at Thebes, the capital of Pathros, the land of thePathrusim (Gen. 10 : 14), 
perhaps of the 17th dynasty of Manetho ; another at Memphis, the capital of Mizraim 
proper, possibly of the 6th dynasty of the same author ; and not impossibly a third at 
Xois, in the western part of the Delta. Other petty sovereignties, that may have ex- 
isted, need not be considered. The Hyksos, or shepherd kings, not being designated 
by the seat of empire, may have been identical with the sovereigns of Xois or Mem- 
phis, or distinct, and even superior to both. In the last case the seat of this sover- 
eignty may have been at On or Bubastis. The dynasty with which the Israelites now 
came into contact was either this last supposed one, or that of Memphis, which was 
convenient to On, and to the land of Goshen. Wlio knew not Joseph. This new king 
may have been the founder of the 7th dynasty, or a contemporary sovereign of the 



18 ISEAEL OPPRESSED IIS" EGYPT. 

IGth. At all events, lie came into power at least forty years after the death of Joseph, 
and about one hundred years after he ceased to take an active part in state affairs. 
This allows a sufficient time for Joseph and his services to be forgotten. " Not to 
know" is in Scripture phrase to disregard. This new sovereign was not actuated by 
any sense of the benefits which that distinguished Israelite had conferred upon his 
countr}-. 9, The people of the sons of Israel. They are now recognized as no longer a 
family, but a community. 3Iore and mightier than vjc. This marks out the speaker as 
the sovereign of a comparatively small principality, hampered, perhaps, on the north- 
west by one power, and on the south by another. Such a prince would feel himself 
embarrassed by the unparalleled growth of this foreign people within his borders, and 
might naturally express himself in the terms here employed, though the Israelites 
were only approaching to his own subjects in numbers and strength (vs. 10). Join 
idth those that hate us. An intimation is here given that this king of Mizraim was by 
no means free from the dangers of rivalry and ambition, and was therefore far from 
being the sole monarch in the valley of the Nile. Those that hate him and his subjects 
are the other sovereigns in Xois, Thebes, and perhaps other parts of Egypt. He 
might be exposed also to attacks from the east, even though he were himself an in- 
vader from that quarter. And get up out of the land. Though he disregarded the jDolit- 
ical services rendered by Joseph, yet he is acquainted with the origin of the race, 
their claim to be free, and their expectation at some time to depart from Egypt. He 
found them valuable, whether as subjects or as serfs, and he does not wish to part 
with them. This incidental notice jsroves that the Israelites were still mindful of the 
God of their fathers, and cherished the hope of one day entering into possession of 
the promised land. We are elsewhere informed that Ezer and Elead, sons of Ephraim, 
were slain in a raid by the men of Gath, and that his granddaughter Sherah built 
Bethhoron, the nether and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah (1 Chron. 7 : 21, 24). 
Whence it appears that in the days of their freedom, before this new king arose, they 
not only looked forward to a settlement in Palestine, but actually asserted a position 
in the country, at least for a time. This naturally connects itself with the share which 
Jacob had given to Joseph above his brethren (Gen. 48 : 22), It is not unlikely that 
the district acquired by Jacob was actually claimed and taken possession of by 
Ephraim, for whom it was designed, and perhaps enlarged by conquest in that early 
period of the residence of Israel in Egypt. Whether the new king of Mizraim came 
from the region of Ephraim' s early conquests history has not enabled us to say. 

11. Taskmasters were superintendents of forced labor. This was customary among 
all ancient governments, and especially among the Egyptians, whose pyramids and 
other great works were mostly the product of slave labor. Tr'easure-cities were maga- 
zines for the storage of provisions and other commodities of war and police. Pithom 
and Raamses were situated on the borders of Egypt and Arabia. The former is called 
by Herodotus an Arabian town, and said to be near the eastern bank of the Nile, a 
little above Bubastis, at the commencement of the ancient canal in the valley of the 
Natron Lakes. The latter was in the same valley, farther to the east, near the site of 
Heroopolis, with which many identify it. Lepsius finds it in the ruins of Abu Kefsiieb 
and Heroopolis in Mukfar. Osborne endeavors to show that Pithom is Damietta, and 
Eaamses Migdol, which he places at the head of the Gulf of Suez. These magazine 
cities on the border were well situated for troops making inroads into the eastern 
world from Egypt. The Sept. here adds On ; but this was in existence in the time of 
Joseph (Gen. 41 : 45), and the reading is not otherwise supported. 



EXODUS I. 12-21. 19 

12-14. So they multiplied. The policy of the Egyptian king was ineffectual. The 
pTirpose of God was not set aside, but only promoted by these measures. They were 
vexed. These Egyptians were probably hard pressed on their southern frontier by a 
superior power. They had also a rooted aversion to the Israelites. With rigor. By 
compulsion they exacted hard service in clay, in brick, and in field labor. Agriculture 
was attended with considerable labor in the higher grounds of Egypt, on account of 
the necessity of watering them by artificial means. Bricks were the usual building 
material in Egypt. The monuments show that foreigners were employed in these 
servile works under native overseers. 

15-21. Pharoh next applied to the Hebrew midwives to check the population by 
murdering the male infants. They are called Hebrew, a generic term applying to all 
the descendants of Heber (see on Gen. 14 : 13). Two midwives only are mentioned by 
name. About ninety years before the exodus, and therefore ten before the birth of 
Moses, the Israelites were about thirty thousand, and at the time of his birth about 
fifty thousand ; as they doubled in about fifteen years, and the starting number, in- 
cluding wives, was about one hundred and twenty. From this we learn to moderate 
our estimate of the extent of that kingdom v/ith which the Israelites were in contact. 
All Egypt, from the Mediterranean to the first Cataract, if united under one govern- 
ment, could not be afraid of thirty or fifty thousand men, Avomen, and children. A 
petty state, having its centre at Heliopolis or Bubastis, and overshadowed by one or 
two southern powers, might feel some apprehension of a small people that was 
doubling itself in fifteen years. Of thirty or fifty thousand, much less than a third 
would be married women, and it may be that of these not more than a tenth would 
need or seek the aid of a professional midwife ; and if on an average one birth in each 
family took place every two years, the two midwives would not have to attend more 
than one or two births every day, eveii if personal attendance were always given. But 
we may presume that they had a large number of deputies or assistants acting under 
their direction to meet all the demands on their services. 16. The stool. Some have 
supposed this to mean the mouth of the womb ; but it seems more likely that it was 
the basin or vessel in which the new-born infant was received from the womb. 17. 
God, in the original the God — the true, everlasting, almighty God, who was infinitely 
higher than Pharoh. 19. For they are lively, of a vigorous frame. This was quite true 
in point of fact. Among the Bedawin to this day, and others Avhose bodies are well 
developed by pastoral occupations and loose clothing, child-bearing is comparatively 
easy. The accompanying statement was also correct in the majority of cases, if not 
in all ; especially, if the mothers hearing the order of Pharoh did not admit the mid- 
wife, and she did not intrude, if possible, until the child was born. Of the exceptions 
the midwives, evading Pharoh's question, say nothing. 21. And he made them houses, 
gave them not only husbands, but also children, whieh were regarded as a boon and 
an honor by wives. It is conceivable .that these women were unmarried, or if married, 
childless, and therefore at leisure. to devote themselves to the aid of those who were 
bearing children. The word them is by some referred to the people in the previous 
verse. But this construction is harsh, and the verse in this sense adds nothing to what 
has been said before. Here, as usual, God requites like with like. The mid-wives save 
alive the offspring of the nation : God deals well with them in giving them offspring. * 

* Many authorities are content to understand tiiis as a general description of blessing vouchsafed 
to them : " He blessed them with abundant prosperity." It is to be remembered that while revelation 
was incomplete, material blessings often illustrated and proved Divine faithfulness. — J. IT. 



20 MOSES BORIS' AIS'D BROUGHT UP. 

22. Being baffled by the midwives, Pharoh., as a last resort, commands all his people 
to cast the male infants into the Nile. This bloody mandate appears to have been 
given very shortly before the birth of Moses. These measures of the king, indeed, 
may have followed one another in rapid succession ; and the magazine cities, though 
commenced before, may not have been completed till long after the issue of the last 
of them. The period of serfdom and oppression will in this case last not much longer 
than eighty or ninety years, namely, from a few years before the birth of Moses to the 
exodus. 



II. MOSES BORN AND BROUGHT UP.— Ex. 2. 

3. ^12^ "^^6 papyrus of the Nile ; r. absorb, drinh up. Hence called bibula papy- 
rus (Lucan iv. 136). 

5. t>n~l '^'^ci-^^ the body, or any part of it. C23 ^^^^^ clothes by treading with 
the feet. 

10. nit^D Mosheh. The word, if taken to be Hebrew, signifies draioing. By 
Josephus its Greek form Mwvcr?/? is resolved into the Coptic //w water, and voyi 
saved from. Mouu water, and sa drag, may be the Coptic elements of the name. 
The corresponding Hebrew roots are probably contained in ^''Q water, and {<ti^j 
lift ; though the Hebrew language does not deal freely in compounds. In ex- 
plaining the origin of the name, however, the author employs a verb which con- 
tains the letters that are in the Hebrew form of the word. He either translates 
the name given by the princess, as Melanchthon from Schwarzerdt, or she spoke a 
dialect of Hebrew. The latter might be the case, if she was of the family of the 
Hyksos, who are supposed to have come from Phoenicia or Arabia. 

18. ^{><iy"n ^q'-mqI, friend of (aodi. 

21. nnE)H Zipporah, bird, sparrow. 

22. ct^"l!l Gereshom, stranger, exile; r. ^'-^J^ drive out, compounded of -]?[ 
stranger and c^' == cii' there. The latter is not necessary to warrant the ex- 
pression of the text ; as the native speakers of the language had a much freer 
and wider sense of the relation among roots than many of our philologers. Paro- 
nomasia plays a part in their etymology. They felt a relation between "jip and fijp 

Gen. 4 : 1, ^^3 ^^^ ^^3 ^6^- 1^ • ^y Hi ^^^ t£^"l-l- The rules of philology, in- 
stead of correcting, should be gathered from these among other phenomena. 

11. 1. Then went a man of the house of Levi, and took a daughter of Levi. 2. And 
the woman conceived and bare a .son ; and she saw that he was goodly, and hid him 
three months. 3. And she could not longer hide him, and she took for him an ark of 
rushes, and daubed it with asphalt and with pitch : and she put therein the child, 
and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit 
what would be done to him. 

5. And the daughter of Pharoh went down to bathe in the river, and her maidens 
walked along by the river's side : and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her 
handmaid, and she fetched it. 6. And she opened it, and saw the child, and lo the 
babe wept : and she had pity on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. 
7. Then said his sister to Pharoh's daughter. Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the 
Hebrew women, and she shall nurse the child for thee ? 8. And Pharoh's daughter said 
to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother, 9. And Pharoh's 



EXODUS II. 21 

daughter said unto her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give 
thee thy wages. And the woman took the child and nursed him. 10. And the child 
grew, and she brought him to Pharoh's daughter, and he became her son, and she 
called his name Moses ; and said, Because I drew him out of the water. 

11, And it came to pass in those days, that Moses grew up and came out unto his 
brethren, and looked on their burdens : and he saw a Mizrite smiting a Hebrew, one of 
his brethren. 12. And he turned this way and that way, and saw that there was no 
man : and he smote the Mizrite, and hid him in the sand. 13. And he came out the 
second day, and lo two Hebrews were striving : and he said unto the wrong-doer. Why 
smitest thou thy neighbor ? 14. And he said, Who made thee a ruler and a judge 
over us ? Intendest thou to slay me, as thou slewest the Mizrite ? And Moses feared, 
and said, Surely the thing is known. 15. And Pharoh heard this thing, and sought to 
slay Moses ; and Moses fled from the face of Pharoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian ; 
and he sat by the well. 

16. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters : and they came and drew, and 
filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17. Then came the shepherds and 
drove them away : and Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18. 
And they went to Keuel their father ; and he said. Why are ye come so soon to-day ? 
19. And they said, A Mizrite delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds : and he 
also drew enough for us, and watered the flock. 20. And he said unto his daughters, 
And where is he ? Why is it that ye have left the man ? Call him, and let him eat 
bread. 21. And Moses was content to dwell with the man : and he gave Zipporah his 
daughter to Moses. 22. And she bare a son, and he called his name Gershom ; for 
he said, I have been a stranger in a foreign land. ^ 3. 

23. And it came to pass many days after, that the king of Mizraim died : and the 
sons of Israel sighed by reason of the service, and cried ; and their cry went up to 
God by reason of the service. 24. And God heard their groaning, and God remem- 
bered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25. And God saw the 
sons of Israel, and God had regard unto them. § 1. 

In the preceding chapters is recorded the extremity of the chosen seed. This hard 
pressure of afiliction was not unneeded. In the abundance and prosperity of Goshen 
they had well-nigh forgotten the absolute and exclusive claim of God on their homage 
and obedience. Nothing but the strong hand of oppression could bring them to a 
sense of their dependence and their duty. But they were a chosen race. Much is 
implied in this. The Most High does not allow them, as he might otherwise have 
done, to merge into the superstition and apostasy of the surrounding nations. He 
has, moreover, a purpose to serve by them, an end ulterior to their own spiritual ben- 
efit. He intends through them to perpetuate the knowledge of God, to bring in the 
Kedeemer into the world, to effect a redemption that will be sufficient for all the 
nations of mankind, and finally to bring all the world into reconciliation with himself 
and with themselves. He will not be thwarted in this sublime and benign purpose. 
He has therefore laid the heavy hand of chastisement on this people to bring them to 
repentance. He will not, however, leave them to perish by the murderous devices of 
Pharoh. He will gradually prepare them to shake off the fetters of Egypt, and take 
their departure for the land of promise. And his providence is at work in another 
direction. Immediately after the issue of the bloody edict for the extermination of 
the people the deliverer is born who is to head the movement of national emancipa- 
tion, and is preserved from destruction by the indirect influence of the hostile mon- 
arch himself. 

In this chapter, accordingly, we have the parentage, birth, preservation, education, 
and exile of Moses, the coming deliverer of God's people. The historian reverts to a 
point of time anterior perhaps to any of the despotic measures of the sovereign, and 
enters upon another line of events. 



22 MOSES PRESERVED. 

1-4. The parentage and birth of Moses. A man of the house of Levi, Amram (Ex. 
6 : 20). A daughter of Levi, Jokebed. Hence it appears that Moses was a Hebrew of 
the Hebrews. Levi was forty-four years old when he came down to "Egypt, We may 
suppose that Jokebed was born to him when he was one hundred years of age, and 
therefore sixty-six years after the immigration. Amram may have been born about 
the same time with his aunt, or even somewhat earlier. For his father Kohath (Ex. 
6 : 18) may have been twenty years old when he came to Egypt, and consequently 
eighty-six when Jokebed was born. About fifty years after, we may suppose, the 
nephew and aunt were married. There was not yet any law prohibiting the marriage 
of such relatives. A year after their marriage, the daughter mentioned in the narra- 
tive may have been born, and fourteen years after the same date Moses, who was 
eighty years old at the exodus. These numbers (66 + 50 -}- 14 + 80) make up two 
hundred and ten, the number of years daring which the Israelites sojourned in Egypt. 

2. Goodly, perfect, as if it had come directly from the hands of God without contract- 
ing any outward stain from its parents. Such is the force of Stephen's explanatory 
phrase, aareloS rtj Qeu, beautiful before God. And hid him three months. Maternal 
affection, the beauty of the child, and hope in God, combined to produce this attempt 
at his preservation. 3. An ark of rushes. This reminds us of the ark of the flood 
(Gen. 6 : 14). The rush was the papyrus, growing to the height of ten feet, and 
formerly abounding on the banks of the Nile. The root was used for fuel, the stem 
for making boats, and the bark or rind for making sails, shoes, garments, and paper. 
The papyrus rolls are found in the mummy-cases to this day, and may be unrolled 
and read. Asphalt and pitch— the former to fill up the interstices and make all smooth, 
the latter to make the little vessel water-tight. Put therein the child. This is a 
mother's last effort to save the doomed babe. It may appear feeble and hopeless ; but 
it was done in faith, and it proved successful. 4. His sister is set to watch the result. 

5-10. The rescue of Moses from a watery grave. The king's daughter, with her 
attendants, comes forth to bathe in the Nile, the waters of which were considered 
sacred and salutary. In a primitive state of society the females* of the East enjoyed 
a greater degree of liberty than in after times, when they began to be guarded with 
jealous care in the seclusion of the harem, and concealed on a journey from the com- 
mon gaze by the long and thick veil of the East. With all a female's fond affection, 
she has pity on the weeping babe. Scripture is very choice in picking out the cir- 
cumstances that give effect to the scene. This is one of the Hebrews' children. She is 
aware of the royal edict, and comprehends the whole affair at a glance. This tiny 
vessel is the last effort of a mother's affection to cast on Providence the care of her 
babe. 7. His sister, certainly, whether prompted or not, is equal to her task. She 
appears at the proper time, and puts the fitting question. 8. Pharoh' s daughter is too 
glad to be relieved of her perplexity by saying, Go. The maid, the well-grown and 
marriageable virgin, as the term implies. This makes it probable that she was now 
about thirteen years of age at least, as we have supposed. 10. And she called his name 
Moses. His parents, most probably, had given him a name during the time he was 
with them, before he became the adopted son of Pharoh' s daughter. But in ancient 
times the same individual often received different names from successive memorable 
incidents in his life (Gen. 3 : 20 ; 10 : 25 ; 17 : 5. ; 25 : 30). The adopter had a right to, 

* The evidence of this is in Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians," Vol. III., in which a bathing scene 
with a noble Egyptian woman and four attendants is reproduced. The " sister" of v. 4 was probably 
Miriam. See cb. 15 : 20.— J. H. 



EXODUS II. 11-15. 23 

giVe a name to the adopted, and this name has prevailed over that which may have 
been given by his parents. Josephus calls Pharoh's daughter Thermuthis ; Ensebius 
calls her Merrhis ; but these determinations are founded on chronological combina- 
liDns which have not yet been established. 

It is quite evident that Pharoh's court was contiguous to the region occupied by the 
Israelites. This favors the notion of a small kingdom in the eastern part of the Delta, 
to the extent of which a tribe of thirty or fifty thousand would bear some notable re- 
lation. It is plain, too, that the royal residence was for the time being not far from 
the Nile. This will agree very well with Bubastis being at least the occasional abode 
of the royal family. 

It is probable that the exterminating edict was withdrawn at or soon after the res- 
cue of Moses. The caprice and passion of a desjDot might hastily issue such a decree. 
But afterthoughts would soon suggest the folly of cutting off this useful horde of 
serfs in a single generation. The debasement of the feelings by forced labor — which 
would render them more serviceable as slaves, and less formidable as rebels — is a 
much more satisfactory measure to an arbitrary government. Moreover, the natural 
feelings of humanity revolt against the indiscriminate and continued murder of male 
infants. The measure would be unpopular with his subjects, and with the members 
of his own family as soon as Moses appeared there, and would therefore soon be 
abandoned. Accordingly we hear no more of it. 

11-15. The flight of Moses, lyi those days. This phrase here covers a space of forty 
years or more. Moses grew up, arrived at maturity. He came out unto his brethren. It 
is evident that the tie between Moses and his parents had never been broken. The 
charms of a court life for nearly forty years had not closed his ears against the cries 
of his afflicted people. His heart felt that the sufferers were his brethren. He saw a 
Mizrite smiting a Hebrew — one of the taskmasters correcting a serf under his charge, 
or, more probably, a private individual, in the mere arrogance of his political superi- 
ority, maltreating one of the inferior race whom he has chanced to meet. Moses, 
whose spirit had not been broken by the bondage common to the rest of his race, in- 
stantly taking the side of the oppressed, slays the Egyptian, and buries him in the 
sand. He may not have intended to deal a fatal blow, or he may not have been able 
to avoid it in self-defence ; but no such explanation is offered in the text. We may 
not wish to stand over this deed in all its length and breadth ; but we must not de- 
nounce it, as we might if it were done in our day. In a time and place where the 
wild will and the high hand have the rule, he that lifts the hand not for selfish ends, 
but for the defence of the weak, is not to be hastily condemned. He has much of the 
spirit of the magistrate, where the law and its administrator are wanting. 13. The 
next day he sees two Hebrews striving. He expostulates with the wrong-doer, who 
rudely repels his interference with the alarming question, " Intendest thou to slay me 
as thou slewest the Mizrite ?' ' These were the noticeable acts which decided Moses's 
future course. They tell much of what was working within his breast. For the last 
thirty years we may imagine him now and then stealing out of the royal precincts to 
look on the burdens of his people. Oft with a sore heart may the young patriot have 
returned to the palace, contrasted the freedom, luxury, and mental culture around 
him with the degradation of that race which he knew was chosen of God to hold the 
foremost rank and achieve the noblest ends for humanity. The hope of their de- 
liverance was cherished. The wish to take part in it was gathering strength with his 
years. Ho was at length precipitated into action by the scenes before him. But the 



24 MOSES MAKRIED. 

rude question, " Who made thee a niler and a judge over ns ?" prompted, perhaps, by 
his courtly guise and long isolation from his people, quenched his ardent aspirations. 
Having broken with Egypt, and been rejected by his kindred, he had no course for 
the present but exile. (See Acts 7 : 21-29 ; Heb. 11 : 24-26.) 

. Moses was now forty years of age (Acts 7 : 22, 23). This period of physical and in- 
tellectual growth he had spent at the court of Pharoh, and therefore had received the 
highest education the country could afford. The annual overflow of the Nile impart- 
ing a constant fertility to the soil rendered Egypt j)re-eminently an agricultural coun- 
try. The necessity of marking the time of its rise led to the study of astronomy and 
chronology. To determine the height to which it rose in successive years, and the 
boundaries of landed property which were liable to be obliterated by its waters, they 
were constrained to turn their attention to geometr}^ To the successful prosecution 
of mathematical science, and for the recording of the observations needful for its 
practical application, the art of writing was essential ; and the papyrus reed afforded 
the ready material for such records. In these circumstances, the heavenly bodies, 
the Nile, and the animals of their country, became absorbing objects of attention, and 
eventually of worship. Music was also diligently cultivated in Egypt. Moses must 
have been familiar with the language, literature, and science of Egypt, as well as with 
the corruptions of its theology. This was the one side of his character. On the other 
side he was closely allied by intercourse and feeling with his kindred, and therefore 
intimately acquainted with the monuments of sacred history which were handed 
down to them, the elements of a pure theology, natural and revealed, which had been 
preserved by them, their present sufferings, and their future destiny. We cannot 
conceive a providential training more admirably adapted for the part he was to perform 
as the deliverer, legislator, and historian of the people of God. 

15. Midian was the son of Abraham, and half-brother of Isaac. The Midianites 
were, therefore, the kinsfolk of Moses. A great part of Arabia, indeed, was occupied 
with descendants of Heber, the ancestor of Abraham and the Israelites. Thither it 
was natural for Moses to flee. The land of Midian lay partly south-west of Moab and 
partly on the coast of the Aelanitic Gulf, to the south-western extremity of which the 
tribe seems to have penetrated. And he sat 'by the well, the well-known place of re- 
freshment and rest for the traveller, and of common resort for the natives of the 
country. 

16-22. The settlement and marriage of Moses in Midian. The priest of Midian. The 
ancient order of elders held a place in the polity of Midian (Num. 22 : 4). The 
supreme government seems to have been a commonwealth or confederacy, as there 
were five kings of Midian in the time of the entrance of Israel into the promised land 
(Num. 31 : 8), and two princes and two kings are mentioned in the days of Gideon 
(Judg. 8 : 3, 5). As in primitive times the sacred and civil functions were generally 
united in one person, the priest of Midian was probably at least an elder in the state ; 
but there is no reason to suppose that he was not a priest in the strict sense of the 
term, as the civil functionaries of Midian, we find, were designated by several other 
terms. We have already met with the early custom of daughters tending flocks (Gen. 
29 : 6). They often needed defenders, as the weak are often wronged by the strong. 
A Mizrite. Moses is so regarded, as he probably wore the garb and spoke the language 
of Egypt, and may have stated that he was a fugitive from that country. Why is it tliat 
ye have left the man ? A feeling of innate modesty, or a proper sense of their depend- 
ence as children, may have prevented the invitation proceeding immediately from 



EXODUS III. 25 

themselves. He gave Zipporah, his daughter, to Moses. She was a descendent of Abra- 
ham, and so of the kindred of Moses. The connection was therefore suitable. 

23-25. The sacred writer now resumes the general thread of the narrative, and de- 
scribes with a few touches the crying oppression under which the people of Israel had 
now long labored. Many days after. The whole of the events following occurred dur- 
ing an interval of forty years, the period of Moses's sojourn in Midian. The king of 
Mizraim died. This may have taken place shortly after Moses left the country ; but it 
did not abate the sufferings of the people. His successor pursued the same cruel 
policy. Their hard service commenced some time before the birth of Moses, and had 
now therefore lasted more than eighty years. Sighed and cried. The haughty spirit 
which denounced the defender and adviser as a self-constituted ruler and judge was 
now subdued. The wail of deep affiiction ascended from broken hearts to heaven, to 
the living God. God heard their groaning. He hears all groanings. But he also re- 
membered his covenant with their fathers (Gen. 17 : 2, 21 ; 46 : 2-4). He not only 
heard, but saw the sons of Israel under the oppressor. He not only observed, as it 
were, with the outward senses, but knew with the inward mind, and acknowledged 
them to be the seed of the covenant. Such is the manner in which the narrator lays 
emphasis on the earnest attention with which the Lord regards the afaiction of his 
people. 



III. MOSES CALLED AND COMMISSIONED.— Ex. 3, 4. 

CHAP. III. — MOSES CALLED. 

1. "^-"ipt Jithro, profit., pre-eminence ; r. he over and above. 2~!n Choreb, dry 
place; r. drain. 

14. ninis* "Iti^'K rC,r\^ Ehjeh, for I am. We approach -with reverence to the 
discussion of this remarkable sentence. It has been rendered in two different 
ways : (1.) I am, because I am ; and (2.) I am tliat which lam. The latter, we 
presume, is the meaning of the English version, I am that I am. There are 
three decisive objections to this rendering : 1st. It takes the whole sentence to 
be the name, like Shear-jashub (a remnant shall return), Maher-shalal-hash-baz 
(haste to the spoil, speed to the prey), the names of Isaiah's children. But the 
first word Ehjeh, is the whole name, as is evident from the remainder of the 
verse : " Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Ehjeh hath sent me unto 
you." 2d. It lays the emphasis on that which is not expressed in the name. It 
therefore conveys no information : for it states in words that God is that which 
he is ; but does not tell what that is. It is not distinctive of God ; for the say- 
ing, I am that I am, may be applied to any being whatever ; and is, moreover, a 
mere triviality. It is, if anything, a mere intimation of the inscrutable mystery 
of the divine nature ; yet it does not even afRrm that he is the Inconceivable, and 
therefore Ineffable. And even if it did, this bare thought is not fitted to implant 
confidence or induce persuasion in the minds of the Israelites. And 3d, the sen- 
tence tlms rendered does not express the idea conveyed in the word Ehjeh, which 
is substituted for it in the latter part of the verse. The former is at best purely 



26 MOSES CALLED. 

negative ; the latter is purely positive. Hence the two forms of the name would 
be inconsistent in meaning. 

The latter rendering being on these grounds untenable, the former must be re- 
garded as correct. It agrees with the Yulg. Ego sum, qui sum, and the Sept. 
'E/w ELixt 6 uv, in making part of the sentence the name, though it differs from 
them in taking the first word, not the latter two, as the name. It affords a good 
sense. It finds in the answer of God the new name, and the reason of it, whether 
we translate "iti^'is* who, as for, because, or since. I am (is my name), for I am. 
It gives the same name in the two parts of the verse, and the same sense in each. 
It also agrees with the structure of the Hebrew and with the Masoretic pointing, 
in which there is a pause after the first word, thus : n'' HN*- I^ only remains to 
ascertain what is the meaning of Ehjeh. 

1st. The verb fiTl I'efers not to the abstract existence of the schoolmen, but to 
the concrete being of the unsophisticated Hebrew mind, that is, being as active and 
obvious to the senses (see on Gen. 1 : 2). This, when applied to the Eternal, 
means, therefore not absolute beginning or essential change of being, but that 
eventual modification of being which is implied in engaging in a new course of 
action manifesting the agent to have being. To be, in a word, is to act in such 
a way as to manifest one's being to a competent observer. 2d. j^i]-\^ is that 
form of the verb which denotes the incipient stage of an action or event. It 
means, therefore, I go to de, I am on the point of proving myself to be by a 
noticeable action. In regard to the chosen seed I have heretofore mainly prom- 
ised ; I am now about to appear in performance of my promise. 3d. The verb 
is in the first person, because the speaker is naming himself with all the em- 
phasis of personal identification. It is obvious that this was a stiikingly signi- 
ficant and appropriate name for Moses to bear to the peojDle, as it announced a 
present God, come down to fulfil his covenant and perform his promise to the 
afiiicted descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

III. 1. And Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of 
Midian : and he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came to the mountain of 
God, to Horeb. 2. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire 
out of the midst of the bush : and he looked, and, lo, the bush burned with fire, and 
the bush was not consumed. 3. And Moses said, Let me now turn aside and see this 
great sight, why the bush does not burn. 4. And the Lord saw that he turned aside 
to see ; and God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said Moses, Moses. 
And he said. Here am I. 5. And he said, Draw not nigh hither : put off thy shoes 
from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 

6 And he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 
7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in 
Mizraim, and have heard their cry by reason of their exactors ; for I know their sor- 
rows. 8. And I came down to deliver them out of the hand of Mizraim, and to bring 
them up out of that land unto a good and' large land, unto a land flowing with miUc 
and honey ; unto the place of the Kenaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and 
the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9. And now, behold, the cry of the 
sons of Israel is come unto me : and I have also seen the oppression wherewith 
Mizraim oppresseth them. 10. And now come, and I will send thee unto Pharoh : 
and bring forth my people the sons of Israel out of Mizraim. 

11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharoh ; and that 
I should bring forth the sons of Israel out of Mizraim ? 12. And He said, For 1 will 



EXODUS III. 27 

be with thee, and this shall be unto thee the token that I have sent thee : when thou 
hast brought forth the people out of Mizraim ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 

13. And Moses said unto God, Lo, I shall go to the sons of Israel and say unto 
them. The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you ; and they shall say to me, What 
is his name ? what shall I say unto them ? 14, And God said unto Moses, I am, for I 
am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, I am hath sent me 
unto you. 

15. And God said again unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, 
The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the 
God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you : this is my name forever, and this is my memo- 
rial unto all generations. 16. Go and gather the elders of Israel and say unto them. 
The Lord, the God of your fathers hath appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, saying, I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in 
Mizraim. 17. And I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Mizraim unto the 
land of the Kenaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and Hivite, 
and the Jebusite ; unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18. And they shall 
hearken to thy voice ; and thou shalt go, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king 
of Mizraim, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath met 
with us ; and now let us go, we pray, three days' journey into the wilderness, and 
sacrifice to the Lord our God. 19. And I know that the king of Mizraim will not let 
you go, but by a mighty hand. 20. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Mizraim 
with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof : and after that he will let 
you go, 21. And I will give this people favor in the eyes of Mizraim : and it shall 
come to pass that when ye go, ye shall not go empty. 22. And every woman shall ask 
of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth, in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels 
of gold, and garments, and ye shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, and 
ye shall spoil Mizraim. 

Slowly and constantly for the last eighty years the oppression of Israel has been 
growing to a head, and now the Lord himself appears on the scene. He has not, in- 
deed, been all that time an idle observer of their miseries. In the silence and secrecy 
of his providence the deliverer has been growing up, and is rip(3 for his task at the 
very hour of need. The Lord now comes to call him to his work. 

The chronology of the interesting events about to be recorded is not minutely laid 
down. To give definiteness, however, to our conceptions of the course of things, it is 
desirable to fix approximately the shortest period in which they might have occurred. 
The earliest day for the full moon on the 15th of Nisan, the first day of unleavened 
bread, was the 22d of March. It is possible for the events between the vision at 
Horeb and the first passover to have taken place with some degree of probability in, 
at the least, eighty days. This number we obtain by allowing for the journey from 
Horeb to Midian and thence to Egypt thirteen days ; for the first interviews with the 
people and with Pharoh seven days ; for eight plagues, at seven days each, fifty-six 
days ; and for the plague of darkness four days. The following table will make the 
arrangement plain : 

Horeb to Egypt, till Jan. 13 Murrain, till .Feb. 24 

First Interview Jan. 20 Boils Mar. 3 

Plague of Blood Jan. 27 Hail Mar. 10 

Frogs Feb. 3 Locusts Mar, 17 

Lice • Feb. 10 Darkness Mar. 21 

The Fly Feb. 17 

The particulars of this presumptive arrangement will be noticed as we proceed. 
Some have protracted the interval to nearly ten months, in order to bring the first 



28 MOSES CALLED. 

plague to the end of June, when the Nile begins to rise and assume a red and turbid 
appearance. But the first plague is of a nature entirely different from the periodical 
change of color at the swelling of the Nile ; and moreover it is highly improbable that 
the ten plagues were spread over a period of nine months. 

1-5. The Lord appears to Moses. Jethro, the pre-eminent. "We have again and 
again to notice instances of the same individual having several names. He who was 
the eminent in one sense was in another the friend of God (2 : 18). The names are 
quite consistent. Behind the loilderness. Jethro's dwelling was doubtless east of Horeb, 
probably on the shore of the Gulf of Akabah ; but we cannot define it more closely. A 
wilderness lay between it and the springs and green valleys intersecting the range of 
Horeb, which was therefore behind the wilderness, because it was both on the other 
side from Jethro's home, and to the west of the intervening region. The moimtain of 
God. This range of hills earned this name, if not from some previous manifestation 
of God, yet from the signal displays of his presence and power which are about to be 
narrated. 2, 3. The angel of the Lord. See on Gen. 16 : 7. In a flame of fire. The 
primary effect of the flame of fire is to consume ; the secondary, to purify. When 
transferred to spiritual things, that which is fuel to the fire is moral evil (29 : 14:), and 
that which remains after its work is dojie is the pure, the holy (Num. 31 : 23). Fire, 
however, does not make pure, but merely leaves the pure untouched. The Lord has 
often appeared in fire (19 : 18 ; 24 : 17 ; Lev. 9 : 24). The hush. This was a species of 
thorn. The hawthorn, according to Shaw and Pococke, abounds in the region of 
Horeb. TVas not consigned. The fire was supernatural, and did not affect the vegeta- 
tive life of the bush. This it was that arrested the attention of Moses. It was truly 
a " great sight," an unusual and notable phenomenon standing out from the ordinary 
course of nature. The mode of the divine appearance is not without design. It has 
a significance fitting the occasion. The bush that lives unscathed by the lambent 
flame that winds round all its leaves and branches, is an emblem of that which is pure 
and holy, and therefore of the true church of God in the furnace of affliction. The 
lowliness of the shrub comports well with the seeming feebleness and insignificance 
of the people of God. The flame of fire corresponds with the fiery trial through which 
they have had to pass, that the lusts of the flesh, which had grown up in Egypt, might 
be consumed, and faith and its kindred virtues be left behind in all their vigor and 
beauty. 

4, 5. The Lord saw . . . God called. It would be the affectation of criticism to 
investigate in every case the ground for the distinctive use of these names. Yet there 
is no doubt that the writer used them with a clear consciousness of their meaning. 
In mentioning that the " Lokd saw" Moses turning aside to see, he regarded him, we 
must suppose, as the Great Being who has manifested himself and is present in the 
work of creation ; and in adding that " God called " unto him, he had before his mind 
the supernatural, invisible sphere out of which the Eternal Omnipotent uttered his 
voice, Moses, Moses, as in Gen. 22 : 11. This is the personal call with which the com- 
mission of Moses begins. Draw not nigh. Do not intrude with daring heedlessness 
into the sacred presence of the divine majesty. Put off thy shoes. The custom of put- 
ting off the shoes before entering an apartment, lest they sl\puld defile the floor, passed 
in the East into a mark of respect, and then of reverence. Hence it becomes a habit- 
ual outward sign of an inward feeling of regard for the place and presence of a 
superior, or of the Supreme. 

6-10. This passage closes with the commission to Moses. After the premonitory 



EXODUS III. 7-12. 29 

sentence comes tlie introduction. I am the God of thy father. " Thy father" is here 
used in a generic sense, to denote any ancestor from his immediate father up. The 
nations of the earth had now almost universally forsaken the God of their first father, 
the knowledge of whom had been clearly handed down to them by Noah, and betaken 
themselves to other gods, whom their fathers knew not, and who were no gods. 
Moses is here reminded of his holy ancestry, and apprised that he who now addresses 
him is the Great Being who made heaven and earth, and created man after his own 
image. But more particularly he is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who 
entered into a special covenant of salvation with the fathers of Israel, by means of 
which the primeval covenant with man may be upheld, and all the Gentiles reconciled 
to God. Hid his face. The unexpected utterance of his name, the caution against too 
near an approach, the announcement of the divine presence, awakened a solemn awe 
in the mind of Moses, which discovered itself in hiding his face, lest he should be 
guilty of any profane gazing upon the apparition of the Holy One (Gen. 16 : 13). 

7-10. After the introduction we have the commission. The preamble recounts the 
cause which moved the Lord to the present interposition. / have surely seen. I have 
been deeply concerned to observe the affliction of my people. For IJcnow their sorrow. 
The for here is explanatory. I have not been inattentive to them, I have been cogni- 
zant of all that was taking place, and therefore I have seen and heard everything. I 
came down (Gen. 11 : 5). God is personally interested and active in his people's cause. 
A good and large land, not inferior to Goshen in point of fertility, and affording scope 
for a growing population. A land flowing with milk and honey, a proverbial description 
of a choice land abounding in the grasses and flowering plants from which milk and 
honey come. 2 he place of the Kenaanite. The Kenaanite and his derivative tribes 
originally amounted to twelve (Gen. 10 : 15-18). In the time of Abraham ten tribes 
occupied the land of promise, of which only five are known to be descendants of 
Kenaan (Gen. 15 : 19-21). Of the six here enumerated, history traces five to Kenaan. 
Of the former list the Girgashite has now retired into obscurity, and the Hivite has 
recovered a prominent position. Of those not traceable to Kenaan only the Perizzite 
is mentioned. The others were probably beyond the boundary at present contemplated. 

9, 10. And now, behold the cry of the sons of Israel. It is noticeable that their oppres- 
sion had lasted for eighty years. But now at length their cry indicated that affliction 
had done its work. In the anguish of their hearts they turned from man to God. 
They longed to be free from the bondage of Egypt, and they now saw no hope of 
escape but in God. Their cry goes up to heaven, and God appears on earth for their 
deliverance. 1 will send thee unto Pharoh. The purpose of the vision now unfolds 
itself to the mind of Moses. 

11, 12. Moses puts in many pleas to be excused from this grave task. The Lord 
patiently and encouragingly hears all these scruples of his creature's mind, gives a 
satisfactory explanation, and api)lies a complete remedy to every difficulty, until there 
is nothing in the mind of Moses but an unreasonable shrinking from an arduous and 
honorable task. Even then he provides a full relief for the trembling heart in the 
eloquence and company of his brother Aaron. Thus gradually and tenderly he pre- 
pares the mind of his servant for acquiescing in, and then heartily devoting himself 
to, the high office to which he is called.* 

* It is interesting to notice the change In the temper of Moses, as shown in ch. 2 : 11-14, as inter- 
preted by Stephen, Acts 7 : 25. Had the life of the wilderness made him less trustful of self ? Did he 
need to be thus stripped of all reliance on human resources that he might lean only on the Lord ?— J.H. 



30 MOSES CALLED. 

The first p'ea is Ms personal iinwortliiness. Wlio am I? He remembered the 
grandeur of the court and the haughtiness of the monarch. He was aware that the 
present sovereign was a stranger to him. He called to mind the rude reception he had 
met from one of his own kinsmen, when he formerly interfered in their behalf. All 
the difi&culties of the enterprise crowded on his mind, and he felt himself inadequate 
to its achievement. For I loill he with thee. The Lord is not moved from his purpose by 
the objection of Moses. He obviates it by an undeniable argument. I will be with 
thee. The power of God with us certainly surmounts all difficulties. This promise 
will hereafter be embodied in a name, Immanuel — God with us. Here it is framed in 
a sentence importing the active presence of the Almighty with his chosen servant. 
This has been the source of the church's life, strength, and hope in all ages. This 
shall he the token. To find himself and the rest of Israel serving God on this mountain 
will hereafter be to him a proof of his divine commission, and the assurance of this 
fact, which will undoubtedly follow the promise now given, is calculated to encourage 
him to undertake the task with cheerfulness and hope. 

13, 14. Moses now starts a difficulty he might have with the people. They might 
ask him what is the name of him from whom he came. It is important to determine 
the real bearing of this question. (1.) We have repeatedly met with the custom in 
early times of giving several names to the same individual, as Jacob and Israel, Esau 
and Edom, Keuel and Jethro. This was not even peculiar to the East. Paris and 
Alexander, Lucumo and Tarquinius, Henry and Beauclerc, are familiar to us in other 
lands. The reason of this custom was that names were then significant, and served to 
mark out the individual by some peculiarity in his person, some trait in his character, 
or some event connected with his history. If several of these circumstances might 
occur in the case of a finite man, how much more may we expect them to come out in 
the contemplation of the infinite God. Accordingly, among a primitive people, his 
names grow in number as the manifold aspects of his all-perfect character break upon 
their view. He is called Elohim, the Everlasting, when his antecedent eternity and 
absolute independence are contemplated. He is termed Jehovah, the Self-existent, the 
Author of all existing things, when he is regarded as the free and personal God, mani- 
festing his being to the intelligent universe by the works of his creative power. He is 
named El ' Elion, the Most High God, when his unattainable pre-eminence above all 
created things comes into view. He is designated El Shaddai, the Almighty God, when 
he wishes to set before the mind his unconquerable omnipotence. (2.) In the next 
place, Moses did not require to ask the name of God, if we mean by that the term by 
which he was commonly known. He was already familiar with his name. If the 
Book of Genesis was not yet before him in a written form, the traditions of his fathers 
were graven on his memory. Moreover, God had already announced himself to him 
as the God of his fathers. And, further, God does not present in his reply any one of 
all the names by which he had been previously known. Hence it is plain that the 
object of Moses in putting this question could not have been to ascertain any of 
the former names of God. (3.) The name in the conception of Moses was the title 
by which the present aspect of God to his people was to be designated. And the 
meaning of his question is, What is the principle of thy being or movement of thy 
will which is now to display itself to thy people ? 

The Lord is prompt in meeting this new difficulty of Moses. The immediate 
answer to his question is a new name, in some respect different in meaning from all 
his former designations. Ehjeh (Ehyeh), I am, in the sense I now proceed to make 



EXODUS III. 15-22. 31 

myself known to he, by giving being to my promise to Abraham of more than four 
hundred years' standing. Although the phrase I am does not immediately convey all 
this to English ears, yet it is so brief and appropriate in its general sense, and so hal- 
lowed in our associations, that we would not venture to alter it. And even in this 
simple form, when coupled with a promise of deliverance such as Moses was com- 
missioned to announce, it suggests the thought that his people will soon find that he 
is by the acts he performs. Still further, it is probable that the present tense of our 
English verb originally meant, and it is certain that it still retains among its mean- 
ings, the initial stage of an action or event, as in the phrase, I go to town. It is, 
therefore, the only form fit to express the Hebrew incipient. The use of the first 
person is a plain indication that the name is intended not merely to distinguish an 
individual, but to express a sentiment that will animate the people with hope and 
resolution. Such a form is strictly appropriate only in the mouth of the speaker ; 
and, accordingly, it is not afterward employed as a name of God. All this is in keep- 
ing, not with a mere name, but with a word of moral power fitted to stir the heart, 
and meet the present occasion. 

Moses was now, therefore, armed with a name of potent significance by which to 
designate him by whose authority he was to approach the people. He could say, He 
in whose name I come is about to realize the promise of the land of Kenaan made to 
the seed of Abraham ; and he has deigned to embody this fact in a significant name, 
indicating his present adherence to his covenant with your fathers. 

]5-22. Special directions are now given to Moses regarding his commission. First, 
the authority under which he acts is formally stated. The Lord, that is, Jehovah, 
We have already discussed the import of this name (Gen. 2:4). It stands in rela- 
tion to Ehjeh, as a habit of the active powers is to a particular volition, Jehovah is 
the author of reality in general ; Ehjeh is he who is on the point of giving reality to a 
certain thing or event. The two names then refer to the same attribute of the divine 
nature, but in different points of view ; the one presenting it as a potence in habitual 
exercise ; the other as a potence passing into a new course of action. Hence we can 
understand how the Lord, after announcing himself to Moses by a new form of appel- 
lation, fitted to the special occasion, immediately reverts to the well-known and long- 
established name which involves the same property of his nature. In accordance 
with this identity of the quality signified by the two names, it is fitly added, " This 
is my name forever, and this my memorial unto all generations." The name refers to 
the objective and sensible sign ; the memorial to the subjective and mental concept of 
the Divine Being, He that gives effect to his uttered resolve is the author of eternal 
life to his chui'ch, 

16, 17. Next, the course he is to pursue with regard to the people of God is pointed 
out. Gather the elders of Israel. Officers of this class were common to all mankind in 
primeval times. "We have already met with them in Egypt (Gen. 50 : 7). We here find 
them established in Israel antecedent to the legislation of Moses. Their name is 
derived from the quality of age, which confers experience and claims authority. They 
were perpetuated through all the variations of the commonwealth of Israel, and 
descended from them to the Christian church, in which they still maintain their 
place. / have surely visited you, personally come to see you, and all that is done to you, 
in order to take the proper steps for your deliverance. 

18. The manner in which he is to approach the king of Egypt is next laid down. 
They shall hearken to thy voice. They have been chastened by the oppression of Egypt, 



32 ■ MOSES CALLED. 

and will now listen gladly to a duly accredited deliverer. Thus far Moses will find his 
reception encouraging. Thou and the elders of Israel. A venerable deputation of the 
heads of the people are to accompany Moses to Pharoh. Jehovah, the God of the 
Hebreios. To Israel this epithet of Jehovah would be encouraging ; to Pharoh it is 
merely explanatory. We learn from it that the Shemites of the line of Heber 
continued to acknowledge the true God after the other nations had forsaken him. 
In other words, the revelation of God made to the common fathers of the human 
race remained in its purity among the Hebrews after it had been essentially corrupted 
among the other nations of the earth. It is plainly implied that the gods of Egypt 
were now essentially different from the God of the Hebrews, as will presently appear 
in the most conspicuous manner. Hath met with us, with Moses in the bush at Horeb, 
and with us in the signs he has wrought through him before us (vs. 30). Let us go 
three days' journey in the loilderness. This request seems at first to be put in a politic 
form, as if to secure a favorable answer. This, however, was quite unnecessary, since 
the Almighty was about to bring his people out of Egypt by a strong hand. It is 
merely expressed in a style of reserve and moderation. It was not requisite to reveal 
to Pharoh, who was in a hostile mood, all the intentions of God concerning his peo- 
ple. Hence Pharoh is merely informed that the God of the Hebrews has met with 
them ; and their request is limited to the first step to be taken in obedience to his 
will. A three days' journey is mentioned, simply because this would take them clear 
out of Egypt, one day being employed in setting out, one in marching, and the third 
in coming to a resting-place. And a sacrifice is added, because this is the first act of 
obedience. The former involves their departure out of Egypt ; the latter commences 
the perfect service of God. This is exactly the mode in which God trains his people. 
The immediate duty and the immediate blessing are set before them, and these are 
pregnant with all further and higher duties and blessing. So he deals with Pharoh. 
But there is not only reserve, but moderation in the request. It makes the smallest 
demand consistent with actually leaving, and assigns the highest reason for taking 
this step, namely, the command of God. By sedulously avoiding everything harsh 
and extravagant in its terms, it affords the least possible occasion for Pharoh to 
harden his heart, and dismiss the petitioners with an obstinate refusal. At the same 
time it is a bold and open assertion of liberty. If the people had formed a secret jDlot 
to escape from the land of their bondage, we should have been slow to condemn, if 
not prompt to applaud. But this is not the Lord's way. If Pharoh had condescended 
to ask at once, " Who shall go ? Will your wives and children go ? Will your cattle 
and your other movables be taken with you ?" he would have received, as he event- 
ually did, a ready and candid reply. But such questions were in reality superfluous. 
Pharoh was well aware that Dondsmen who had marched three days out of the land 
of the oppressor, with their families and goods, would not return without compulsion. 

19, 20. Moses is further forewarned of the unwillingness of Pharoh to grant the 
request of the people, and of the means by which this unwillingness is to be over- 
come. And 1 knoio. Foreknowledge is as certain to God as after-knowledge. But 
by a mighty hand, the hand of God doing his wonders in the land of Ham. The ser- 
vant of the Lord is therefore not to be discouraged by the unavailing opposition of 
Pharoh. 

21, 22. The Israelites are not to go out empty-handed. The sojourn of Joseph in 
Egypt as a bond-slave had been the means of preserving the inhabitants of that coun- 
try from extermination by a seven years' famine. The residence of his kindred in 



EX0DU3 IV. 33 

Goshen had always been a benefit, and not a burden, to Egypt. And for the last two 
or three generations the Israelites had been bond-slaves, toiling for the prosperity 
and aggrandizement of the nation. They had, therefore, an undoubted right to ask, 
and the Egyptians were eventually glad to give them, some aid for their journey. 
Shall ask, as a gift, if not a compensation for long unrequited services. The word 
cannot mean to borrow here, when the Egyptians were perfectly aware that the Israel- 
ites would not return. Of her that sojourneth in her house, either a visitor or a mistress 
whom she served, in any case her superior, and perhaps owner. Spoil Mizraim. The 
Egyptians would be so overcome by abject distress as to be ready to part with a con- 
siderable portion of their wealth, in order to get rid of a people whose presence men- 
aced them with utter extermination. 

CHAP. IV. — MOSES OBEYS THE CALL. 

14. jnnK A^haron, perhaps height or tall; r. perhaps akin to -i*i"{>^ light, or-],-; 
Mil 

18. "^pi = 'inn*'- "^^^^ latter is the reading of one ms. of the Sam., Syr., Vulg., 
and Arabic. The former, of the other mss. and of the Sept. ; of the latter in 
both parts of the verse. It seems an instance of diversity of language. 

IV. 1. And Moses answered and said, But behold they will not believe me, nor 
hearken unto my voice : for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee, 
2. And the Lord said unto him. What is this in thy hand ? And he said, A rod. 3. 
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a 
serpent ; and Moses fled from before it. 4. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth 
thy hand, and catch it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and seized it, and it 
became a rod in his hand. 5. That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their 
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared 
unto thee. 6. And the Lord said unto him again, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. 
And he put his hand into his bosom : and he took it out, and lo his hand was leprous 
as snow. 7. And he said, Put thy hand again into thy bosom. And he put his hand 
again into his bosom ; and he took it out of his bosom, and behold it was restored as 
his other flesh. 8. And it shall be, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the 
voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9. And it 
shall be, if they will not believe even these two signs, nor hearken unto thy voice, that 
thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour on the dry land : and the water 
which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. 

10. And Moses said unto the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, 
nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant ; for I am slow of mouth and slow of 
tongue. 11. And the Lord said unto him. Who hath made man's mouth, or who 
maketh dimib or deaf, or seeing or blind ? Do not I the Lord ? 12. And now go. and 
I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak. 13. And he said, O 
Lord, send now by whomsoever thou wilt send. 14. And the anger of the Lord was 
kindled against Moses ; and he said. Is there not Aaron, thy brother, the Levite ? I 
know that he can speak well : and also behold he cometh forth to meet thee, and he 
shall see thee, and be glad in his heart. 15. And thou shalt speak to him, and put 
words in his mouth ; and I will be with thy mouth and with his mouth, and will 
teach you what ye shall do. 16. And he shall speak for thee to the people, and it 
shall be that he shall be to thee for a mouth, and thou shalt be to him for God. 17. 
And this rod shalt thou take in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do the signs. IT 4. 

18. And Moses went and returned to Jether his father-in-law, and°sai^ to him, 
Let me go now and return to my brethren who are in Mizraim, and see whether they 
be yet alive. And Jethro said unto Moses, Go in peace. 

19. And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return to Mizraim, for all the 
men who sought thy life are dead. 20. And Moses took his wife and his sons-, and 



34 MOSES OBEYS THE CALL. 

set them upon tlie ass, and returned to the land of Mizraim : and Moses took the rod 
of God in his hand. 

21. And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Mizraim, be- 
hold all the wonders that 1 have put in thy hand, and do them before Pharoh ; and 
I will harden his heart, and he shall not let the people go. 22. Then thou shalt say 
unto Pharoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, my first-born. 23. And I said 
unto thee, Let my son go, and serve me, and thou didst refuse to let him go : behold, 
I will slay thy son, thy first-born. 

24. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought 
to kill him. 25. And Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her 
son, and cast it at his feet : and she said. For a spouse of blood art thou to me. 26. 
And he left him : then she said, A spouse of blood, because of the circumcision. IT 5. 

27. And the Lord said to Aaron, Go to meet Moses in the wilderness. And he went 
and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. 28. And Moses told Aaron all 
the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded 
him. 29. And Moses and Aaron went, and gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel. 
30. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses ; and did 
the signs in the eyes of the people. 31. And the people believed ; and they heard that 
the Lord had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had looked on their affliction ; 
and they bent their heads and bowed themselves down. 

The Lord here obviates all the remaining difficulties of Moses, who then obtains 
leave of Jethro to return to Egypt (vs. 1-18). Setting out on his journey, he is met 
by Aaron, and on his arrival is well received by the people (vs. 19-31). 

1-9. The third plea of Moses is the incredulity of the peo]3le. There is no manifes- 
tation of God to Israel on record since he appeared to Jacob on the way to Egypt 
(Gen. 46 : 2) ; and this was two hundred and ten years ago. And Moses had now 
been in exile forty years, and would be a comparative stranger to most of his nation. 
The Lord meets this plea by supplying him with credentials that could not be gain- 
said. These are in the form of certain supernatural wonders, of which the Lord now 
exhibits two in the sight of Moses for the confirmation of his own faith, and directs 
that along with these a third should be performed in 'Egypt to demonstrate to the 
people and to Pharoh that he was an ambassador from the God of the Hebrews. It 
has been generally felt that these wonders must have been selected with a due regard 
to the occasion, and are, therefore, not only miracles attesting a divine message, but 
signs shadowing forth pertinent truths to all the j)arties concerned. The early mind 
"v^as peculiarly open to the figurative method of instruction. The hieroglyphic mode 
of writing was a most ingenious and elaborate application of symbols to the use of 
recording events. 

2-5. The first sign given to Moses contains a plain allusion to his change of office. 
A rod. This is the instrument and symbol of his present condition — the shepherd's 
crook. Cast it on the ground, an act symbolic of his abandonment of that condition. 
It became a serpent, a dangerous and formidable creature, from which Moses fled. 
There is no distant allusion here to the repugnance of Moses to the new office which 
was proposed to him. The serpent, moreover, was the ostensible tempter and traitor 
in the garden of Eden, and therefore the representative of the author and abettor of 
evil. And in particular the asp, a kind of serpent, played a conspicuous part in 
Egyptian mythology. It was the emblem of the goddess Kanno, the snake of Neioh, 
the hieroglyphic of "goddess," and the sign of royalty. From this last use it was 
called Uraeus, from ouro, king, and jSaaiTiiaKoS, royal (Eawlinson's Herod, ii. 105). 
Egypt was, therefore, not obscurely pointed out as the adversary of God and his peo- 
ple at this time. Moses shrunk from grappling with this hostile power. Put forth thy 



EXODUS lY. 6-17. do 

hand and catch it. This indicates Moses's reluctant acceptance of liis new office. // 
became a rod iji his hand. What was formidable to weak faith and hesitating obedi- 
ence became a rod of power as soon as the decisive act was performed. The shep- 
herd's rod is now the rod of God, with which he is to conduct the people of God from 
Egypt to the promised land. That they may believe. Moses is empowered to perform 
this miracle before the people, that they may believe his divine mission. Hence it 
appears that one end of a miracle is to authenticate a divine communication and be 
a warrant to faith. 

6-8. The second sign points to a renewal of nature in Moses and the 
people. Put now thy hand into thy bosom. The hand is the emblem of power. 
The putting of it into the bosom is merely the withdrawing of it from action 
into rest and security. Taking it out is preparing to resume activitj''. Leprous 
as snow. Leprosy is a loathsome 'disease of the skin prevailing in Egypt and 
the southern parts of Asia. It appears in spots on different parts of the body, which 
sometimes become confluent and cover the whole body. It is called white from the 
color assumed by the part affected and the hair that grows on it. Hence the phrase, 
" leprous as snow." It is distinguished as Lepra Mosaica, from the notice taken of it 
by Moses in his legislation (Lev. 13 : 14). The leprosy is not employed in Scripture 
as a figure for sin as an act or habit. But the leper is declared unclean ; and moral 
uncleanness is the consequence of such sin. The hand of Moses, when brought out 
for action, is found to be leprous— not impotent, as in paralysis, but defiled, and defil- 
ing whatever it touches. This is a striking figure of the unclean or unhallowed power 
of fallen man, which works evil and not good. It is tj^pical of the old man in Moses 
and in Israel, especially now when they are contaminated with the manners and cus- 
toms of idolatrous Egypt. Pid thy hand again into thy bosom. On drawing it forth 
from the bosom it is now found to be restored as the healthy flesh. The degenerate 
power of Moses was unfit for the work of God. Its sanctification is represented by 
the restoration of the leprous hand. And as Moses is consecrated to the task of lead- 
ing the people out of Egypt, so are they to be consecrated to the Lord as a chosen 
generation to show forth his praise and accomplish his purpose. The voice of the first 
sign. By a beautiful figure these signs are described as having a voice, because they 
speak to the people of the presence and power of God with his messenger. 

9. This sign evidently refers to Egypt. The Nile was venerated as a divinity, under 
the name of Hapi — cognate, if not identical, with Apis. Its waters were therefore re- 
garded as sacred, and highly esteemed as salubrious to the drinker and fertilizing to 
the soil. To change these waters into blood shed on the ground is to turn the stream 
of life into a pool of death. It speaks of disaster and death to Egypt and its gods. 
He that has power over the deified Nile may defy all the might of Pharoh. He is ac- 
credited as the minister of God, called to his office, qualified for his holy task, and 
armed with miraculous powers for the discomfiture of Egypt by the Lord, the most 
high God, founder of heaven and earth. 

10-17, Moses comprehends all that is implied in this last sign, stands aghast at the 
deadly encounter with the powers of Egypt, and urges a fourth plea. lam not eloquent, 
a man of words, competent to lay before the mind of Pharoh the awful alternative of 
concession or compulsion. His powers of persuasion had not prevailed with his own 
countrymen. His present interview with the Almightj'- had not increased them, and 
he could not expect to maintain the argument worthily in this great cause before the 
haughty monarch of Egypt. 11. Who hath made man's mouth ? The Lord is still 



S6 MOSES OBEYS THE CALL. 

patient with Moses, and meets his objection witli an unanswerable rejoinder. In a 
series of interrogatories it is intimated that the Lord is an infallible judge of what 
amount of natural eloquence is requisite for the occasion, and is able and sure to 
supply the deficiency, if any such exist. 12. I will he with thy mouth. Here the 
requisite aid is expressly promised. 13. Notwithstanding this assuring reply, Moses 
prays the Lord to confer this honor on any other than himself. 14-17. This rather 
hasty and impatient expression of unwillingness provokes the Lord to anger. Yet, 
as this backwardness arose not from any unworthy motive, but from an absence of 
ambition, a love of retirement, or a deej) feeling of humility, the Lord does not turn 
away from his purpose, but with a gentle firmness acquaints him with another relief 
he has provided for his slowness of speech. Aa7^on, thy brother, the Levite. This is 
put first, as the prominent object of thought. The words in apposition with Aaron 
are merely intended to designate him fully, according to the Hebrew manner. He is 
of the same parents and tribe as Moses, and therefore suitable as an associate in this 
arduous undertaking. And though he was the elder brother, yet the Lord assures 
Moses that he will be glad to see him, and of course act under him. Thou shalt speak 
to him. Moses is to perform the higher part still, even in speaking, namely, to dictate 
the words which Aaron is to utter. The promise of divine aid is accordingly reiterated 
and extended to both. He shall speak for thee to the people. We leam from this that 
God does not needlessly alter the natural qualities of his highest servants. The char- 
acteristics of mind and will in the individual, though dedicated and adapted to a holy 
use, are still allowed to remain, and to peejD out in all his sayings and doings. And 
thou shalt he to him for God. The figure here is as bold as it is expressive. What God 
is to Moses, that Moses is to Aaron in regard to the matter and the authority of his 
message. What Moses is to God, that Aaron is to be to Moses in regard to the de- 
livery of it. And this rod. This wand of authority he recalls to the mind of Moses as 
another source of encouragement. Wherewith thou shalt do the signs. This staff was to 
be always with him as the badge of his office, if not the instrument of operation. 

18-26. All his fears and scruples being at length overcome, Moses prepares for en- 
tering on his office. Jether here is Jethro in a subsequent part of this verse. We 
may learn from this that a mere variation in the orthography of a proper name may 
indicate a variety in pronunciation, and not a deviation from the autograph of the 
author. Let me go now. Moses asks leave of his father-in-law to depart. Not only 
common courtesy, but the benefits he had received from Jethro demand this. See 
whether they he yet alive. The private ends he had in view he is at liberty to disclose to 
Jethro. Other reasons it was not necessary to state, to warrant his departure. Jethro 
is just, as well as generous, and bids him go in peace. 

19, 20. In Midian. This implies that the mount of God, west of the wilderness, 
where Moses saw the burning bush, was not in Midian. For all the men who sought thy 
life are dead. The present communication has reference, not to the heavenly mission 
of Moses, but to his personal relations with Egypt. The cause of flight from his kin- 
dred was the vengeance of the king and the kinsmen of him whom he had slain. They 
were now dead, and he was at liberty to return. The higher reasons for his return 
did not at present concern the Midianites, His sons. Though the birth of only one 
son has been recorded, yet we know from the subsequent narrative (Ex. 18 : 4) that a 
second son was born to him. The ass. This may mean either the single ass or the 
species of animal on which they rode. In the former case the two children must have 
been young. The ass is a much nobler animal in the East than with us. The rod of 



EXODUS IV. 21-26. 37 

the God, the true and living God, in contrast with the gods of the Jieathen. The rod 
after having been transformed by the divine power into a serpent, and from a serpent 
into a staff of office, may justly be termed the rod of God, 

21-23. The result of the application of Moses to Pharoh, and of the performance of 
all his wonders, will only be an obstinate refusal to let the people go. This is here 
again intimated, to prepare the way for the dread ultimatum which is to be finally 
announced to Pharoh. Behold, with the eye of remembrance and attention. The 
wonders. Works that are supernatural, or contravene the laws of nature. They are 
called signs in reference to their use, as attesting the presence, the message, or the 
messenger of God, or as symbolizing any fact or doctrine. *' AU " the wonders seem 
to refer, not merely to the three signs, but to the first nine plagues with which Egypt 
was visited. In thy hand, in thy power by the rod in thy hand. A7id I will harden his 
heart. The hardening of Pharoh's heart is in this narrative ten times ascribed to the 
Lord. But it is also at least twice ascribed to Pharoh himself (8 : 28 ; 9 : 34). In 
seven other passages it is stated simply as a fact, without assigning any cause. It is 
evident of itself that this fact is ascribed to God and to Pharoh in different respects ; 
so that the two assertions are perfectly consistent with each other. It is equally 
plain that the act in question belongs to Pharoh, as the moral agent by whose inten- 
tion it was performed. It belongs to God as the Designer, Creator, and Supreme Gov- 
ernor of the existing universe, of which free agents and their voluntary actings form 
a part. His absolute and universal dominion follows from the act of creation, and 
was constantly present to the minds of the children of God in ancient days. Its effect 
upon the mind was solemn and impressive, and never suggested the faintest presump- 
tion of injustice in God, even when the acts that were sinful in his creatures were 
traced in another sense to his holy and awful will. The Scripture, accordingly, never 
hesitates for a moment to ascribe absolute holiness to God, and all the guilt of a sin- 
ful act to the free agents. Further than this it becomes us not to define an adminis- 
tration which we are incompetent fully to conceive, or exactly to express. Then thou 
shalt say unto Pharoh. This is the ultimate message, when all feebler strokes had 
proved ineffectual. Israel is my son, adopted in sovereign mercy to the inheritance of 
privileges, which to those who appreciate and accept them will be perpetuated and 
enhanced. My first-born, and therefore most dear, but not exclusively dear. The first- 
bom son suggests other son§ born afterward, and points in the distance to the calling 
of the Gentiles. And I said unto thee. This refers to the message again and again 
urged upon Pharoh, and hitherto obstinately rejected. I will slay thy son. This is the 
final stroke on him who persisted to the last in leaving all to the arbitrament of war, 
even with the Almighty. Hjs first-born, the heir to his throne, and the first-born of 
all his people, must be slain before he can be induced to let Israel go. 

24-26. The sacred narrative is not wont to notice incidents on the way, unless they 
come within the sphere of the spiritual. Thus Jacob travels from Beersheba to Haran, 
a distance of nearly five hundred miles, and only the occurrence at Bethel is men- 
tioned. So here a single incident is taken up from the ordinary routine of the journey 
to Egypt, on account of its moral import. It contains an element of truth that is of 
present moment in elucidating the ways of God. The Lord met him, and sought to kiU 
him. The Lord had been charging Moses with a menace of the gravest kind to Pharoh. 
It was well that Moses himself should feel acutely the pang of death, that he may 
comprehend the terrible meaning of this threat. It appears that his youngest son had 
not been circumcised, through some unexplained fault of Moses. The neglect of the 



38 MOSES OBEYS THE CALL. 

divinely appointed sign of the covenant of peace with God was a serious delinquency, 
especially in him who was to be the leader and lawgiver of the holy people. It was 
meet that the austere perfection of the divine holiness should be made known to 
Moses. It was necessary at this stage of his experience that he should learn that God 
is in earnest when he speaks, and will assuredly perform all that he has threatened. 
Hence the Lord sought to kill him, probably by some disease or sudden stroke, which 
threatened immediate death. And Zipporah took. It is probable from her spontane- 
ous promptitude that Zipporah was in some way the cause of the delay in circumcising 
the child. A sharp stone. This was a stone or flint knife, such as was used afterward 
by Joshua in circumcising the children of Israel on their entrance into the land of 
Kenaan (Jos. 5:2). We read that Tubal-cain, the eighth in descent from Adam, was 
a worker in brass and iron. Hence it appears that implements of stone were contem- 
poraneous with those of the common metals. The use of them seems to have pre- 
vailed in rural or remote regions, into which the arts of smelting and forging metals 
had not penetrated. The theory, therefore, of the successive ages of stone, brass, and 
iron, may apply to particular localities, but not to the whole habitable earth. The 
arts of metallurgy flourished in certain races, while the ruder ware, fashioned out of 
stone, bone, and wood, was prevalent among others. And cast it at his feet. This in- 
dicates that Moses had signified his wish that the child should be circumcised. For 
a spouse of blood art thou to me. The word /or refers to the significant act of casting the 
foreskin at Moses's feet, which implied that her connection with him had necessitated 
this blood}^ rite. Her womanly tenderness shrunk from the 23ainful operation. A^id 
he left him. The Lord, who sought to put him to death, remitted the penalty now that 
the neglected duty was performed. Because of the circumcision. This explains her 
accosting Moses as a spouse of blood, as it was to save him from death that she was 
constrained to do herself the masculine part of circumcising her child. This was a 
salutary and seasonable lesson to Zipporah as well as to Moses. The occurrence prob- 
ably took place on the first night of their journey, as they had not reached the mount 
of God (vs. 27). The child was now unfit for travel, and it was easy for the mother to 
return with the two children to her father. It is most likely, therefore, that this was 
the point from which she was sent home by hej husband (18 : 2), in order to avoid the 
dangers and inconveniences which she was willing to brave on his account, had not 
this providential interposition ordered it otherwise.* ; 

Moses must have occupied at least a day in returning to Midian with the flock of 
Jethro, two or three days in making preparations, and a day in setting out with his 
wife and family. The distance from Midian to Egypt was probably not less than two 
hundred miles, for which we may allow seven days. Starting about the beginning of 
the year, according to our reckoning he would arrive in Egypt about the 13th of 
January. 

27-31. We have here a summary of the reception which Moses met with from the 
people. And the Lord said unto Aaron. The narrative, as usual, goes back a little to 
take up another line of things. In the wilderness, the region between the gulfs of Suez 
and Akabah. In the mount of the God of heaven they met. And kissed him, the eastern 
mode of salutation. After receiving instructions from Moses, Aaron accompanied him 

* There is nothing violent in the supposition that Zipporah was unfavorable to circumcision, not 
In sympathy with the Hebrew people and ways, and so her return to her father may have been on 
many accounts a precedent step. She rejoices him wh'.n an undertaking, which she may have deemed 
quixotic, is complete (ch. 18 : 5-6).— J. H. 



EXODUS V. 39 

to Egypt. They gathered the elders of the people (3 : 16). And Aaron spake (vs. 16). 
Aaron being eighty-three years of age, and having lived constantly among the people, 
now served to introduce Moses who had been an exile for forty years, and was there- 
fore -unknown to the rising generation. And did the signs. As Aaron did the signs 
before Pharoh, it is proiable and accordant with the text that he should also be the 
performer before the people. This is in keeping with the relation between Moses 
and himself (vs. 16). It is also an example of the rule that a man is said to do what 
another does in his stead and by his authority (vs. 17). Bowed themselves down. Bent 
their bodies as well as their heads in reverence before God, So far all went well with 
Moses. His brother entered heartily into his misoion, and the people acknowledged 
him as the messenger of God. 



IV. MOSES ENCOURAGED IN HIS OFFICE.— Ex. 5, 6. 

CHAP. V. — MOSES APPEARS BEFORE PHAKOH. 

3. j«^"ii^j. This form here signifies to meet with, as the verb does in several 
places (Gen. 42 : 4 ; 49 : 1, and always in the form riNIp^)) ^^d as the context 
proves (3 : 18). ^p is the more usual form of the verb with this meaning. 

6. ''\i2i^ ypaju^uarevs a scribe, prefect, officer, employed in duties involving the 
keeping of accounts, lists, and other records. 

V. 1. And afterward Moses and Aaron went and said unto Pharoh, Thus saith the 
Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go and hold a teast unto me in the wilderness. 
2. And Pharoh said. Who is the Lokd, that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel 
go ? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. 3. And they said. The God of 
the Hebrews hath met with us : let us go now three days' journey into the wilderness, 
and sacrifice unto the Lokd our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the 
sword. 4. And the king of Mizraim said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and 
Aaron, loose the people from their works ? Get you to your burdens. 5, And Pharoh 
said, Lo, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their 
burdens. 

6. And Pharoh commanded that day the taskmasters over the people and their 
officers, saying, 7. Ye shall not continue to give straw to the people to make brick, as 
heretofore ; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8. And the tale of the bricks 
which they made heretofore ye shall lay upon them ; ye shall not take from it ; for they 
are idle : therefore they cry, saying. Let us go sacrifice to our God. 9. Let the service 
be heavy on the men, and let them work therein ; and let them not regard vain words. 
10. Then went out the taskmasters of the people and their officers, and spake unto the 
people, saying, Thus saith Pharoh, I will not give you straw. 11. Go ye yourselves, 
get you straw where ye can find it ; for not ought of your service shall be taken off. 

12. And the people were scattered throughout all the land of Mizraim, to gather 
stubble for straw. 13. And the taskmasters hasted them, saying. Fulfil your works, 
the daily task, as when there was straw. 14. And the officers of the sons of Israel, 
whom Pharoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, while it was said. Why 
have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick, as heretofore, both yesterday and to- 
day ? 15. And the officers of the sons of Israel went in and cried unto Pharoh, say- 
ing, Wliy dealest thou thus with thy servants ? 16. No straw is given unto thy serv- 
ants, and they say to us. Make brick : and behold thy servants are beaten, and it is 
the fault of thy people. 17. And he said. Ye are idle, ye are idle ; therefore ye say, 
Let us go sacrifice to the Lord. 18. And now go, work : and no s-^raw shall be given 
you, and the tale of bricks ye shall deliver. 



.40 MOSES APPEAES BEFORE PHAROH. 

19. And the officers of the sons of Israel saw that they were in evil case, when it was 
said, Ye shall not take off from the daily task of your bricks. 20. And they met 
Moses and Aaron standing in the way as they came out from Pharoh. 21. And they 
said unto them, The Loed look upon you, and judge ; because ye have made our savor 
to stink in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their 
hand to slay us. 22. And Moses returned unto the Lokd and said. Lord, wherefore 
hast thou done evil to this people ? Why is this, that thou hast sent me ? 23, And 
since I M^ent m to Pharoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people ; 
neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. 

In further prosecution of their mission, Moses and Aaron now present themselves 
before Pharoh. But they are dismissed with contempt, and new hardships are im- 
posed on the people and their officers. Moses returns to God disappointed and com- 
plaining, 

1-5. The request made by Moses is contemptuously refused hj Pharoh. And after^ 
tmrd. After the people had accepted his authority, Moses was prepared to go before 
Pharoh. Moses and Aaron, accompanied, no doubt, by the representatives of the 
people (3 : 18). Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel. Jehovah was the God of Adam 
(Gen. 2 : 7, 16), the God of Noah (Gen. 6 : 8 ; 8 : 20, 21), and consequently of the 
whole race descended from him. He is here called the God of Israel, not as' if he 
were one among the national gods, but because the other nations have corrupted the 
notion and worship of God, and because he has entered into a covenant of grace with 
Israel. Let my people go. The request is peremptory, because it comes directly from 
God himself. And hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. To hold a feast is the imme- 
diate object of the journey. This is according to the divine manner of teaching. 
God promises a present seed ; but there is a future seed : a good land ; but there is a 
better country : an earthly rest, beyond which there is a heavenly rest. He speaks to 
men of the near and the obvious, and those who hear he leads on to higher powers 
of understanding and nobler scenes of enjoyment. Besides Pharoh was not entitled 
to know, and he does not condescend to ask what were the ulterior purposes of God. 
In the xoilderness simply means out of Egypt, beyond the jurisdiction of its sovereign 
and the interference of its people. A sequestered scene was often selected by ancient 
taste for a solemn festival. 2. I know not the Lord. Jehovah, the God of Israel, was 
not unknown to the predecessors of Pharoh (Gen. 12 : 17, 41 ; 43 : 23). He could 
scarcely be ignorant that the Israelites had a God. But the import of the name here 
employed may have been unknown to him, and at all events he refuses to acknowl- 
edge the authority of Jehovah. Their reply is explanatory. The God of the Hebrews, 
of which well-known nation (Gen. 10 : 21 ; 14 : 13 ; 41 : 15 ; 41 : 12) the Israelites were 
a branch (1 : 15-19), is he whose name is Jehovah. Hath met with us, has revealed him- 
self to us in the miracles wrought in our presence, and the message communicated to 
us by Moses. Three days' journey. See on 3 : 18. Lest he fall on us icith pestilence or 
with the sword. The sword is under the control of Providence as well as the pestilence. 
This is added to bring out clearly the necessity of their departure. Pharoh will gain 
nothing by withholding his permission, as these bond-slaves, whom he values so 
much, may be destroyed by a stroke from heaven, from which even his own subjects 
might not escape. There is a clear and unavoidable obligation, therefore, on the 
Israelites to make this demand. It dawns upon the mind of Pharoh that this dej^art- 
ure involves the emancipation and independence of the Israelites. But he will not 
ask the question, or entertain the thought. He treats their demands with a haughty 
impatience. Get you to your burdens. This is meant for the representatives of the 



EXODUS Y. 6-23. 41 

people, as the former part of his reply was addressed to Moses and Aaron. 5. The 
people of the land. They are called the people of the land with reference to Goshen, 
where they were settled, in contrast with Pharoh himself, who belonged to the domi- 
nant race, which may have been of foreign extraction, or because they were engaged 
in rural occupations (1 : 14). Are now many. They are already so numerous as to en- 
danger the state. And ye make them rest, when they require to be kept down in num- 
bers and in spirit by hard and constant labor. It is evident that Pharoh spurns the 
thought of letting the people go. 

6-11. He determined to crush the nascent thought of freedom in the very bud. 
That day. The case is urgent, and no time is to be lost. The taskmasters. The Egyp- 
tian drivers, who had the management of the servile labor. Tlieir officers. The 
Shoterim were orderlies or managers who kept an account of all matters that came 
under their charge. They appear to have been permanent officials in the state of 
Israel, as Moses makes express provision for their continuance (Deut. 16 : 18), and they 
are mentioned on various occasions in -the subsequent history of the people (Num. 
11 : 16 ; Deut. 1 : 15 ; Judg. 5 : 14 ; 2 Chron. 26 : 11). They occupied the highest rank 
among the people, for we find Moses selecting from among them members of the orig- 
inal Council or Sanhedrin of Israel (Num. 11 : 16), and they are included among the 
representatives of the people in the public assembly (Deut. 29 : 10). The very name 
of this of&cial indicates a literary people. It is judicious in a despotic sovereign, 
governing a conquered or enslaved tribe, to avail himself of certain parts of the polit- 
ical organization which they have adopted. 7. Straw. Straw cut into small pieces 
was mixed with the clay, apparently to give consistency to the brick until it was baked 
in the sun. The sun-dried bricks of Egypt are so durable that many still remain that 
were made many centuries before the Christian era. On being analj^zed they are 
found to contain a portion of straw. The tale of the bricks. The same quantity of 
bricks was to be produced, though the straw had to be gathered, in addition to their 
former labors. They are idle. They have not enough to do, and so they have time to 
think about freedom. Let them work therein, be busy, fully employed. Vain words. 
Pharoh affects to regard the statement that their God had interposed as a falsehood, 
invented by Moses and Aaron. 11. Go ye, for no other will any more supply you. 
For not ought of your service shall he taken off, Therefore bestir yourselves to find the 
straw. 

12-18. After two days the Shoterim are beaten, because the appointed number of 
bricks is not supplied ; and on complaining to Pharoh, obtain no redress. 13. The 
daily task, the rate of a day in its day. 16. And it is the fault of thy people, who do not 
supply us with straw as formerly. 17. Ye are idle. Pharoh has no new answer for the 
officers. The intolerable burden he will not remove. 

19-23. The officers reproach Moses and Aaron for involving them and the people in 
this distress. Moses, deeply dejected, makes his appeal to God. 20. They came upon, 
encountered Moses and Aaron, who were standing in the way, probably awaiting the 
issue of their application to Pharoh. 21. To put a sword in their hand to slay us, to 
give a ground of offence, provoking Pharoh to such measures as will end in the de- 
struction of the people. 22. Moses returned unto the Lord. His mission to Pharoh has 
entirely failed. It has only added to the misery of the people. He lays this before 
the Lord in verj^ plain terms. The chapter is abruptly closed with the earnest expos- 
tulation of Moses. The sombre picture of wretchedness is thus left to make its full 
impression on the mind. 



43 MOSES EifCOURAGED — HIS GEN^EALOGY. 



CHAP. VI. — MOSES ENCOURAGED — HIS GENEALOGY. 

17. i_2^'7 Libni, white; r. he white, lyj^ti^ Shimei, hearing; r. hear. 

18. Cl/Oy ' Amram, linding ; r. Und. inH'' Jitshar, oil ; r. shine. ^j^i-"|y Uzziel, 
God my strength. 

19. i^niO MacWi, sickness ; r. 5^ szc^. i^"'lJ3 MusW, yielding ; r. yzeZi^. 

20. n^DI'*' Jokebed, ^Zor?/ to Jehovah. 

21. p,-|p Qorach, ^ai7; r. congeal. ^^^ Nepheg, sprig; r. u. sprout, i-^n^ 
Zikri, rememlyrance. 

22. ^^ti^'i^j^ Mishael, ■zoAo is what Ood is f I'^^^K Eltsaphan, Ood a hiding-place. 
''inO Sithri, hiding-place. 

23. y^ti^^^i^ Elislieba , God is my oath, nij^^y 'Amminadab, bounteous to my 
people, jl'^'nj Nachshon, serpentine. n^J Nadab, lounteous. 5^in''IlJ< Abihu, Ae 
a father. ~]]j;7{^ El'azar, (rCfi a help, nion''}^ Ithamar, ^cA6re the palm. 

24. -^"is^s* Assir, captive. Hjp^N Elqanah, gotten from God. ?]C^?''2^^ Abia- 
saph, father of gathering. 

25. 7^^it;2'l9 Putiel, afflicted of God. CHJ^'B Pinechas, hrasen mouth. 

VI. 1. And the Lobd said iiiito Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharoh : 
for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them 
out of his land. 14. § § § 2. 

2. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Loed. 3 And I ap- 
peared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as God Almighty : but by my 
name Jehovah was I not known to them. 4. And I have also established my cove- 
nant with them, to give them the land of Kenaan ; the land of their sojournings 
wherein they sojourned. 5. And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, 
whom Mizraim keeps in bondage, and I remembered ray covenant. 6. Wherefore say 
unto the sons of Israel, I am the Lokd, and I will bring you out from under the 
burdens of Mizraim, and deliver you out of their service ; and I will redeem you with 
a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. 7. And I will take you to me for a peo- 
ple, and I will be to you a God ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who 
bringeth you out from under the burdens of Mizraim. 8. And I will bring you into 
the land, which I lifted up my hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob ; and 
I will give it to you for a possession : I am the Lord. 9. And Moses spake so unto the 
sons of Israel, and they hearkened not unto Moses from anguish of sjjirit and from 
hard service. H 6. 

10. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 11. Go in, speak unto Pharoh king of 
Mizraim, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 12. And Moses spake before 
the Lord, saying, Behold, the sons of Israel have not hearkened unto me ; and how 
shall Pharoh hearken unto me, who am uncircumcised of lips ? IT 7. 

13. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto 
the sons of Israel, and unto Pharoh king of Mizraim, to bring the sons of Israel out 
of the land of Mizraim. § 3. 

14. These are the heads of their fathers' houses : the sons of Keuben, the first-born 
of Israel ; Henok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi ; these are the families of Keuben. 15. 
And the sons of Simon ; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jakin, and Zohar, and 
Saul, the son of a Kenaanitess.; these are the families of Simon. 16. And these are 
the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations ; Gershon, and Kohath, 
and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were seven and thirty and a hundred 
years. 17. The sons of Gershon ; Libni and Shimi, according to their families. 18. 
And the sons of Kohath ; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years 
of the life of Kohath were three and thirty and a hundred years. 19. And the sons 



EXODUS VI. 1-9. 43 

of Merari ; Mahli and MusM. These are the families of Levi, according to their gen- 
erations. 20. And Amram took him Jokebed, his aunt, to wife, and she bare him 
Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were seven and thirty and a 
hundred years. 21. And the sons of Izhar ; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zikri. 22. And 
the sons of Uzziel ; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23. And Aaron took Elisheba, 
daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to wife ; and she bare him Nadab and 
Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24. And the sons of Korah ; Assir and Elkanah and Abi- 
asaph. These are the families of the Korhites. 25. And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took 
him a wife of the daughters of Putiel ; and she bare him Phinehas. These are the 
heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their families. 26. These are the 
Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lokd had said, Bring out the sons of Israel from the 
land of Mizraim according to their hosts. 27. These are they who spake to Pharoh 
king of Mizraim, to bring out the sons of Israel from Mizraim. These are the Moses 
and Aaron. 28. And it was in the day when the Loed spake unto Moses in the land of 
Mizraim. § 4. 

29. And the Lokd spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord : speak unto Pharoh king 
of Mizraim, all that I speak unto thee. 30. And Moses said before the Loed, Behold, 

1 am uncircumcised of lips, and how shall Pharoh hearken unto me ? If 8. 

The dejected Moses is reassured by a new assertion and exposition of the actual 
presence of God to perform his promise to his people (vs. 1-3). The pedigree of Moses 
and Aaron, and others who are to figure in the future scene is now given, preparatory 
to the commencement of Israel's deliverance (vs. 14-30). 

1. The Lord's reply is directed not to the complaint of Moses, of which he takes no 
notice, but to the contemptuous refusal with which Pharoh had met his rightful de- 
mand. To receive a message from his Maker was an unspeakable honor. Even if he 
suspected the message to be a pretence, yet reverence for him in whose name the 
bearers of it professed to come should have led to the most cautious inquiry before 
he replied. He was not to act upon a surmise in any case, much less in a case of 
such moment. Now. In the very height of Pharoh's arrogance and oppression, and 
in the depth of the people's anguish and despair, will the Lord appear. By a strong 
hand (3 : 19). By the hand of the Almighty inflicting stroke upon stroke, until the 
spirit of Pharoh is broken. Thus will he be constrained not only to give them leave, 
but even to drive them out of his land. The second, " by a strong hand, " for which 
the Sept. has " by a high arm" (ei> iSpaxcovi viprjAu)), is emphatic. The Sabbath lesson 
of the sj^nagogue terminates here, after having given relief to the anxiety of the 
hearer by a new promise of God, 

2-9. The reassurance of the preceding communication is now sustained by a recur- 
rence to the cheering import of the name Jehovah, and a recapitulation of all the old 
promises to the patriarchs. And God spake. The Everlasting and Unchangeable One 
spake. lam the Lokd Jehovah. The Eeal, the Self- existent, the Author of all other 
existence, manifesting my being by my presence in and power over nature for the 
performance of my long-revealed purpose. This is a name of power and hope to cheer 
the darkest heart. 3. As God Almighty. The name Jehovah was made known to 
Adam by the stupendous works of the six days creation, which were unfolded in all 
their finished beauty and grandeur before his outward eyes and inmost soul (Gen. 

2 : 4, 16, 22 ; 4 : 1). It was also revealed to Noah in the preservation of his own 
family, and the destruction of the old world by a flood, which were to the Most High 
but the waving of his hand, though to man they were the majestic doings of Jehovah. 
But in the matter of the promise made to Abraham and his seed of a land of habitation 
he was known to them yet only as a promiser, not yet as a performer. Hence he 
appeared to them as ElShaddai (Gen. 17 : 1), God Almighty, a name expressly fitted 



44 MOSES Ei^COURAGED — HIS GENEALOGY. 

to awaken and warrant faith in a promise, inasmuch as it points to the attributes of 
unchangeableness and omnipotence, which are the guarantees of its ultimate fulfil- 
ment. But hy my name Jehovah was I not known to them. As the performer of promise, 
the giver of existence to that purpose which he had expressed, he was not known, 
personally and practically known, to them. By the voice of history, by the records of 
the wondrous past, they were aware that he was the Lord, and this name was often ac- 
tually on their lips (Gen. 12 : 1, 7, 8 ; 14 : 22 ; 15 : 2, 6 ; 17 : 1 ; 18 : 27 ; 21 : 33 ; 22 : 14 ; 
25 : 21 ; 28 : 13, 16, 21). But in their own experience, and in the matter of the special 
revelation made to them, and only now to be realized, he was not known to them as 
Jehovah the agent, but only as El Shaddai the potent. To know by personal observa- 
tion is the primitive meaning of the verb ?;-|i " know." This is evinced by the use of 
the perfect "I have perceived," to denote what we express by " I know," like novi, 
olda, by the contrast of knowing with hearing, in such sentences as *iynw'n ^h PSJ 
^Pin N"?!*! (^^^- ^^ • ^^)' ^^^ ^y ^^® frequent occurrence of the verb in this particular 
meaning (Gen. 3 : 5, 7, 22 ; 18 : 21 ; 22 : 12 ; Ex. 5 : 2). That " name" denotes the 
nature, the import of the name, the being to whom belongs the attribute signalized in 
the name, cannot be unknown to the attentive reader of the Bible. (See on Gen. 1:5; 
2 : 23 ; 3 : 20 ; 27 : 36 ; Ex. 3 : 13). The meaning thus assigned to the important verse 
before us is, therefore, agreeable to the usage of Scripture. It vindicates the veracity 
and consistency of the sacred historian. And it is singularly pertinent to the context 
in which it occurs. It affords also a remarkable illustration of the custom exemiDli- 
fied in the names Bethel (Gen. 12 : 8), Dan (Gen. 14 : 14), Jacob and Esau (Gen. 
25 : 30), according to which a former name is renewed and perpetuated by a new occa- 
sion occurring for its application. 

4, 5. These verses are a recapitulation of the past. 6-8. The promise now to be 
realized. Say unto the sons of Israel, I am the Lokd. This is henceforth to be the word 
of encouragement, of authority, and of fellowship to Israel. It reminds them that 
God is now active on their behalf ; that it is God who is thus active, and that he is 
present to dwell in the midst of them as a father among his adopted children. It 
guarantees the following promise. A stretched-out arm, a bold figure for the strenuous 
interposition of Jehovah. Take you to me for a people. This is a winning and persua- 
sive argument to a downtrodden people. Ye shall know that I am the Loed. They 
shall know by actual experience that he is all that is implied in the name Jehovah, an 
actual, and therefore tried, deliverer. / lifted up my hand (Gen. 14 : 22), I sware, by 
lifting up, in solemn appeal to God as a witness, the hand, the emblem of power, to 
perform what is sworn. The phrase is transferred with a singular emphasis from the 
human gesture to the divine asseveration. I am the Loed. This sentence is here 
repeated for the third time in this message, enhanced by all the emphasis which the 
distinction made between the divine names (vs. 3) has added to its meaning. It is 
the seal of God thrice stamped upon his promise. 9. Notwithstanding the cheering 
effect of this new communication on Moses, the people were so heart-broken that they 
hearkened not to the comfortable words with which he addressed them. 

10-12. With a heavy heart and sorely wounded spirit Moses must have turned from 
the people. Yet the Lord directs him to go again to Pharoh. Moses pleads his 
want of persuasive power. If his own people have not hearkened unto him, how 
will Pharoh hearken? Uncircumcised of lips. Circumcision is the sign of a re- 
newal of nature. The uncircumcised is, therefore, by a natural figure, one who is 
still in the bondage of a corrupt heart and incapable of holy doings. By a further 



EXODUS VI. 13-28. 45 

turn of • the metaplior, lie is uncircnmcised of lips who is incompetent to speak in a 
manner fitted to produce conviction and compliance. 

13, It is here stated in summary terms that the Lord now gave a joint command 
or peremptory charge to Moses and Aaron, unto, that is, to go unto, the sons of Israel 
and unto Pharoh, and to bring Israel out of Egj^t. Aaron is joined in the commis- 
sion as before, to obviate the difficulty of Moses about his failure to persuade the peo- 
ple. The last symptom of reluctance on the part of Moses has now been overruled, 
and at this point the historian is conscious that it is due to the leaders of this great 
movement, and to the ends of history, to give an account of the relation in which 
Moses and Aaron, and some of their kindred, who take a part in the following transac- 
tions, stand to the other, and especially the elder branches of the now great family of 
Israel. This is the very moment for introducing this statement, as these ministers 
of the Lord are on the eve of entering, without any more faltering, on the momentous 
conflict between the powers of light and darkness, which is to end in the deliverance 
of the children of Israel. Hence, after the summary notice of the positive command 
now laid upon Moses and Aaron, the genealogical notice is inserted. 

14-28. The narrative here reverts to a point of time long passed in the general 
course of events related. 77ie.se are the heads of their fathers' houses. The twelve 
tribes (□'it^^Ii' °^ DilOD) ^^ Israel were now divided, each into families (pi'inQti'D)' 
and the families into fathers' houses (n^ H''^' ^^ ^^® plural p)jn{^ FT'Ii)- ^^ ^^ ^^^' 
dent that in a nation that had a set of officers whose business it was to keep written 
accounts of all matters coming under their charge, we may expect to find genealogical 
lists kept with care and accuracy. Moses, therefore, had no difficulty in finding the 
register of his family. In quoting from the public records, it was both respectful to 
the two elder tribes and essential to a clear statement of the relative position of Moses 
and Aaron in the nation to give at least the families contained in these tribes. Then 
follow what are, strictly speaking, their, that is, Moses and Aaron's fathers' houses. 
The ages of Levi, Kohath, and Amram, the lineal ancestors of the leaders of the 
people, are given. The second son of Levi is the father of Amram. And Amram took 
him Jokebed, his aunt, to loife (see on 2 : 1). We are here brought to the parents of 
Moses and Aaron. 21. The sons of Izhar are introduced on account of Korah, who 
afterward comes to a bad pre-eminence (Num. 16). 22. The sons of Uzziel are men. 
tioned because they also recur in the narrative (Lev. 10 : 4), 23. Elisheba, sister of 
Nahshon, was the fifth (inclusive) in descent from Judah ; while Aaron was only the 
fourth from Levi by his father's side, and the third by his mother's. This prepares 
us to expect great disparity in the number of generations in different lines. Aaron's 
sons will meet us in the narrative hereafter. 24. The sons of Korah were the surviv- 
ors of their father, and became heads of families (Num. 26 : 11). 25. Of Putiel we 
know nothing further. Phinehas is the sixth (inclusive) in descent from Levi, and 
the seventh from Judah. 26-28. These are the Aaron and Moses. The design of the 
preceding paragraph was to explain who Aaron and Moses were. They stand here in 
the order of seniority. At the end of the next verse they are placed in the order of 
rank. To whom the Lord had said. This refers to the commission he had given to 
them before their first interview with Pharoh. T7ie.se are they loho spake to Pharoh in 
the first interview, which is recorded in the fifth chapter. And it was in the day. This 
was the state of things at the time. This verse seems designed to date the time when 
the conjunction of circumstances described in the preceding passage regarding the 
family of Moses had taken place. In accordance with this, the closed section of the 



46 MOSES ENCOURAGED— HIS GENEALOGY. 

Masoretic text terminates with this verse. The connection of such a sentence with 
the preceding context is unusual : but it occurs in other instances (Deut. 2:16; 
Zech. 6 : 15). The phrase •i^^^ it came to pass simply indicates a point of time at which 
a preceding period terminates, and the following one begins. The prominent reference 
is usually to the latter ; but it may be to the former (Gen. 1 : 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30). 
Sometimes the reference may be equal to both (Gen. 4 : 8). 

29-30. These verses contain a recapitulation of verses 10-12, and therefore 
bring us up in point of time to the beginning of verse 13, which is itself a 
summary of what is given in detail in the beginning of the next chapter. The 
first seven verses of the seventh chapter might accordingly be regarded as the con- 
tinuation of the sixth. But in the existing arrangement they form an appropriate intro- 
duction to the record of those ten strokes of judgments by which the resistance of 
Egypt was broken, and the way at length opened for the departure of Israel. 

We have now perused the record of Israel's servitude in Egypt. It runs parallel with 
the early part of the life of the deliverer, or more precisely of Aaron, his senior by three 
years. It commences probably with a new dynastj^ in Egypt, at a time when the 
increase of the people was so marked as to become alarming to a sovereign not very 
firmly seated on the throne, and exposed to the hostility of neighboring powers. His 
policy, though it does not keep down the population, makes him aware of their value 
as servile laborers. He therefore persists in his arbitrary course until the cry of the 
oppressed people reaches heaven. The deliverer now appears ; but his approach to 
the monarch is only the signal for a new outburst of violence and oppression, This 
casts the last shade of gloom and despondency over the scene. 



SECTION II.— THE TEN PLAGUES. 

V. THE FIRST THREE PLAGUES.— Ex. 7 : 8-8:9. 

CHAP. VII. WATER CHAKGED INTO BLOOD. 

9. p2n ^^^0 creatwe^ sea-monster, serpent^ dragon. It sometimes denotes the 
crocodile, Isa. 27 : 1 ; 51 : 9. The Sept. give ('ipuKcjv^ which we have retained to 
distingiiisli it from ^'(-j serpent, which is a species of the more general term 
]i3jr^. The crocodile might be included imder either. But the asp or basilisk is 
more probable, though the term employed is perhaps designedly general. 

11. rj*^^'^):3 sorcerer, magician, enchanter, one who practises hidden or black arts ; 
r. hide. These arts are called CtC'n? =" C^7 enchantments, from ^^^rw — lCV ^^ hid<3. 
AVhether these arts Avere due to the light of experience or the powers of dark- 
ness, we have not the means of determining. 

VII. 1. And the Lokd said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god unto Pliaroh ; 
and Aaron th}^ brother shall be thy prophet. 2. Thou shalt speak all that I command 
thee ; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharoh, that he send the sons of Israel 
out of his land. 3. And I will harden Pharoh's heart ; and multiply my signs and 
my wonders in the land of Mizraim. 4. And Pharoh will not hearken iinto you, and 
I v^ill lay my hand upon Mizraim : and I will bring forth my hosts, my people, the sons 
of Israel, out of the land of Mizraim by great Judgments. 5. And Mizraim shall 
know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Mizraim, and bring out 
the sons of Israel from among them. 6. And thus did Moses and Aaron ; as the Lord 
commanded them, so did they. 7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron three 
and eighty years old, when they spake unto Pharoh. 

8. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying : 9. When Pharoh shall 
speak unto you, saying, show for you a miracle ; then thou shalt say unto Aaron, 
Take thy rod and cast it before Pharoh ; let it become a dragon, 10. And Moses and 
Aaron went in unto Pharoh, -and did so as the Lord had commanded ; and Aaron 
cast down his rod before Pharoh and before his servants, and it became a dragon. 11. 
And Pharoh also called the sages and the sorcerers ; and the scribes of Mizraim, they 
also did so with their enchantments. 12. And they cast down every man his rod, 
and they became dragons : and Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 13. And Pharoh's 
heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken. § 5. 

14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharoh's heart is hard ; he refuseth to let the 
l)eople go. 15. Go unto Pharoh in the morning ; lo, he goeth out u:nto the water, and 
thou shalt stand to meet him at the river's brink : and the rod which was turned to a ser- 
pent shalt thou take in thy hand. 16. And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord, the God 
of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee to saj'. Let my people go and serve me in the 
wilderness ; and behold thou hast not hearkened hitherto. 17. Thus saith the Lord, 
In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord ; behold I smite with the rod that is in my 
hand upon the water which is in the river, and it shall be turned into blood. 18. 
And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink : and Mizraim shall 
loathe to drink the water of the river. § 6. 

19. And the Lord said unto Moses, say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out 
thy hand upon the waters of Mizraim, upon their rivers, upon their streams, and upon 
their ponds, and upon every pool of their waters, and they shall become blood : and 



48 THE FIRST PLAGUE. 

there sliall be blood in all tbe land of Mizraim, both, in wood and in stone. 20. And 
Moses and Aaron did so, as the Loed commanded ; and he lifted np the rod and smote 
the water that was in the river, in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of his servants ; 
and all the water that was in the river was turned into blood. 21. And the fish that 
was in the river died ; and the river stank, and Mizraim could not drink water from 
the river : and the blood was in all the land of Mizraim, 22. And the scribes of Miz- 
raim did so with their enchantments : and Pharoh's heart was hardened, neither did 
he hearken unto them, as the Loed had spoken. 23. And Pharoh turned and went 
into his house, neither did he set his heart even to this. 24. And all Mizraim digged 
round about the river for water to drink ; for they could not drink of the water of the 
river. 25. And seven days were fulfilled, after the Loed had smitten the river. If 10. 

The problem to be solved in this section is the deliverance of a family, now grown 
into a nation, who have been unjustly reduced to a state of servitude, from a haughty 
despot who finds his advantage in retaining them by force in his service. Every man 
we have no doubt, thinks he can easily solve it ; and the solution proposed by each 
will depend very much on the character of the individual. All men will also, we con- 
ceive, acknowledge that the omniscient and omnipotent God could accomplish the 
end in question in a variety of ways, conceivable or inconceivable by man. It is cer- 
tain, however, that the all-wise God can and will work this problem in one way. This 
will be the best way. He only knows what is the best way for all parties. He has 
respect in all his doings to the best interests of his rational creatures. This consists 
in the perfection and culture of their intellectual and moral nature, as the only solid 
foundation of complete and perpetual happiness. His method of procedure, there, 
fore, will be exactly fitted not only to the nature of man, the chief rational party con- 
cerned, in general, but to the stage of development to which at the time he has at_ 
tained. It is true and important in one sense that God giveth not account of any of 
his matters ; but it is equally true and important that he takes account of all matters 
whatsoever in all his proceedings. Hence he has regard to Israel, to Egypt, to Kenaan, 
and to the whole human race in the manner in which he meets this great emergency. 
He has in view the present state of these parties, and adapts his measures to their 
instruction in spiritual things according to their several attainments in mental and 
moral truth. The result of the divine wisdom is the best plan of delivering Israel 
from Egypt, which is accordingly carried into effect, and is here delineated for our 
learning. Let us enter upon the study of it, hoping to be illuminated ourselves with 
many rays of that light which then broke upon the minds of Israel and his contempo- 
raries. 

"We have already read the instructive account of the appointment of Moses to be the 
prime minister of Heaven in this great movement, and the deferential respect with 
which his credentials have been received by the people. Accompanied by the elders 
of Israel, he has approached Pharoh, and presented the authoritative message of the 
God of heaven and earth, requiring him to let Israel go and keep a feast to the Lord. 
In these facts we have striking instances of God's manner of proceeding. He does not 
appoint a servant without removing all his difficulties, and affording him the fullest 
instructions. He does not take a step in the emancipation of the people without 
obtaining their acceptance of the leader" he has chosen and their concurrence in the 
measures he has devised. And, notwithstanding the absence of all equity, as well as 
gratitude, in the manner in which the Pharohs had degraded into serfs the free kins- 
men of Joseph, he opens the negotiations with the reigning sovereign by a simple and 
moderately worded, yet firm and frank, demand of the release of his people for the 



EXODUS VII. 1-7. 49 

immediate purpose of a religious festival. It is obvious that so mild a request, so 
limited in its terms, in circumstances of so grave injustice, coming from the most high 
God, could not have been rejected by a right-minded man. Inquiries might have 
been made, difficulties started, and claims advanced, if there had been any ; and these 
would have been all reasonably and satisfactorily met. And thus a negotiation 
opened with forbearance and carried on with equity would have terminated in a peace- 
ful and amicable settlement. Such is the beginning of God's method for the deliver- 
ance of his people from Egypt. 

But upon the proud and arrogant mind of Pharoh this temperate dealing has an op- 
posite effect. He breaks out into instant defiance of God, contempt of his ministers, 
and revenge upon his people. His heart, practised in the arts of tyranny, gains a 
new degree of obstinacy from its violent recoil against this modest and seemingly 
feeble whisper of the bond-slave's God. With unaffected simplicity the sacred histo- 
rian records the disastrous consequences of Pharoh' s indignation on the people and 
their officers, and the sad shock it gave to their infant faith. This was, no doubt, 
very painful to endure and pitiful to contemplate. But it had its pregnant and salu- 
tary lessons, and he who has looked into the after history of this people will be per- 
suaded that this and many subsequent correctives were absolutely necessary to bring 
them to. that depth of piety, strength of principle, and decision of character which 
conferred a moral dignity on the nation, the traces of which are still to be found in 
the remnant of Israel. _ 

Even Moses himself is disappointed by the failure of his first attempt, and distressed 
by the anguish and despondency of the people. Accordingly the Lord, in the begin- 
ning of this chapter, opens up to him a new and cheering view of his relation to Pha- 
roh, and sends him again to him with the miraculous authentication of his mission. 
This second effort of the divine forbearance is also disregarded by the infatuated king. 
Only on the third appearance of Moses before Pharoh is he authorized to announce 
and inflict the first plague or stroke of judgment upon the recusant monarch. 

1-7. This passage is the expansion of vs. 13 of the previous chapter. A new and 
encouraging view of his relation to Pharoh is here presented to Moses, inducing him 
to enter with a willing and intelligent interest into the divine mission with which he 
has been intrusted. A God unto Pharoh. What God was to Moses in point of instruc- 
tion, that Moses was to be to Aaron (4 : 16) ; and what God was to him in respect of 
power, that he was now to be to Pharoh. He was to be the revealer of the divine will 
to Aaron ; the executor of the divine will on Pharoh, God puts his servant in a satis- 
factory position toward the adversary he has to encounter ; and henceforth he pro- 
ceeds without faltering to carry out the divine intentions. And Aaron shall he thy 
prophet. A prophet is God's spokesman, uttering a message or a prayer by his 
authority (Gen. 20 : 7). Such is Aaron to be to Moses, as explained in the following 
verse. The plenipotentiary of heaven is now amply furnished for his great undertak- 
ing. 3. And I will harden Pharoh' s heart. We have seen the process already begun. 
The very patience and moderation which were calculated to subdue a will amenable 
to reason, only aroused the resistance and vengeance of Pharoh. Every succeeding 
step in the procedure of God is dictated by a like consideration and forbearance. 
Though it be true, therefore, that God did harden Pharoh' s heart, yet it was by meas- 
ures that would have disarmed the opposition and commanded the acquiescence of an. 
upright mind. 4. / will lay my hand upon Mizraim, because Pharoh is the representa- 
tive of the Egyptians, because they concur in his sentiments, and because,, even when. 



50 THE FIRST PLAGUE. 

they do not concur, they do not actively dissent from his intentions. Thus nations 
share the guilt, and therefore the punishment, of their erring sovereigns. Moreover, 
God will touch the consciences of the nation in this high controversy, and awaken 
within them that fear of God which ought to regulate and set bounds to the fear of 
their earthly king (vs. 5). I will bring forth my hosts. The hosts of the Lord they were 
in a literal sense, and a stern work they had to perform in the beginning of their 
career. Yet they gradually rose to a higher form of warfare, in which they were des- 
tined, yet with many auxiliaries, to endure hardness as good soldiers of the Messiah. 
The term hosts, however, is significant even here. It points to the fact that the sons of 
Israel are to march out of Egypt in battle array, apart from the women, children, cat- 
tle, and baggage (13 : 18). 5. And Mizraim shall know. They shall find by experience, 
whether they take the lesson to heart or not. That I amiheLord. That great master- 
truth of all theology, that the God of the Hebrews is the one true and living God, the 
founder and mover of heaven and earth. The nations have inherited the vague notion 
of God, indeed, from their common father ; but they have essentially corrupted it, so 
that their gods are no longer the true God at all, but only a baseless phantom of their 
imagination. They have lost the historical connection with the God of their remote 
ancestry. In the one line of Israel, through the providence of God, has the historical 
revelation of God been preserved pure and entire. This would have been Egypt's 
day of grace, if the nation had onlj" fully accepted this one lesson, " I am the Lord " ; 
but it became # day of judgment on account of its rejection, and this day continued, 
until salvation began to go forth from Jerusalem. 6. And thus did Moses and Aaron. 
There is henceforward a prompt and constant obedience to the divine command, with 
the exception of certain grave inadvertencies into which they are betrayed by the 
remaining infirmities of the old man. 7. A7id Moses was eighty years old. We are now 
arrived at the point we had reached in the summary of 6 : 13. It is in place to state 
the ages of the two brothers. As no mention is made of any difficulty in saving Aaron 
when an infant, it is not improbable that the edict about the execution of the male in- 
fants, by casting them into the Nile, was published after his birth, and in fact very 
shortly before the birth of Moses. Eighty years may seem a ripe age for entering upon 
an arduous enterprise ; but all the ancestors of Moses lived beyond the age of one 
hundred and thirty years, so that eighty was not more in proportion than forty would 
be now. This is the proper close of the paragraph beginning with the genealogy 
(6 : 14), and, therefore, after having expanded 6 : 13 in the previous passage, the writer 
is prepared to go on with the main line of the narrative. 

8-13. Moses now understands the position of advantage in which the Lord has put 
him, and is emboldened to appear the second time before Pharoh. Having armed his 
servant with miraculous powers so that he is a god to Pharoh, the Lord makes a sec- 
ond overture to the haughty monarch. Let it become a dragon. The more general word 
p^p is here employed instead of serpent (4 : 3), simply because this is not precisely 
the same sign that was shown to Moses in the mount of God. The latter was to be 
exhibited before the people for their conviction (4 : 1-5). The wonders to be done be- 
fore Pharoh (4 : 21-23) were not the same, though two of them were similar, and seem 
to have included all the plagues which were afterward wrought by the hand of Moses. 
The dragon is here, therefore, a different species of the serpent kind from that which 
appeared before the Israelites. The kind of animal on each occasion is that which 
would be most significant to the party concerned. The serpent would recall to Israel 
the serpent in Eden. The tannin, here rendered dragon, after the Septuagint, may 



EXODUS VII. 14-24. 51' 

have been the asp or basilisk, which was the emblem of royalty, or some other species 
of serpent equally significant to Pharoh and to Egypt. The sages and the sorcerers ;■ 
and the scribes. The sages and scribes were summoned to Pharoh in the time of 
Joseph (Gen. 41 : 8). It is probable that the scribes, or hieroglyphs, included all the 
classes of sages, and that the sages included the sorcerers. They also did so with their 
enchantments. It is certain that the charming of serpents has been long practised in 
Egypt and adjacent countries. The serpent called hage by the Arabs, apparentlj^ the 
asp, can be made to appear as dead or rigid as a stick, and of course restored to its 
natural state again. Now the Scripture does not care to determine whether a given 
work be done by natural or preternatural means. It grants merely that the thing in 
question has been done, when it is professed and appears to have been done. It does 
not concern the sacred writer or his readers how the impression was made on the 
senses, but only that in fact it was made. And Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 
This was a plain and palpable proof that the presence and power of God were with 
Moses. It may occur to the mind that it would have been as effectual a mode of con- 
vincing Pharoh to have restrained his magicians from playing their part before him. 
And undoubtedly the Almighty could have done so. But it is not his way to interfere 
by physical force with the free agency of his responsible creatures (see Gen. 3 : 1-7). 
If it had, he would have restrained Satan from entertaining the intention of resisting 
his Maker, or at least from afterward intruding into the garden of Eden ; and he would 
have withheld the woman's hand and desire from the fruit of the forbidden tree, and 
so actual sin might never have entered into heaven or earth. But where would have 
been free-agency, or by what means would the existence of creature morality have 
been known ? Let us not imagine, therefore, that even in this small matter we can 
amend God's mode of procedure. And PharoKs heart was hardened. It is plain that 
Pharoh had deluded himself by means of his magicians into the fancy that Moses is 
only a more skilful magician than his own. He attaches no proper weight to the dis- 
appearance of their rods, which was the testing miracle. As the Lord had spoken. It 
is the prerogative of the Omniscient to predict the conduct of men. Though we can- 
not explain this mystery, yet from the known character of a man we can sometimes 
make a shrewd guess at the way in which he will act in given circumstances. 

The interview with the people, the first appearance before Pharoh, the two days 
after which the officers were beaten, the second interview with the people, and the 
second with Pharoh, cannot have occupied less than seven days, and therefore bring 
us to the 20th of January, or thereabout. 

14-24. This second appeal having failed to make any impression on the neart of 
Pharoh, the Lord, as a third and last resort, directs Moses to the infliction of the first 
of a series of judicial strokes, increasing in intensity of effect, by which the refractory 
monarch is at length compelled to let the people go. The Jewish Kabbis have not 
been slow to observe the regular order in which these successive strokes are arranged, 
and the gradual advance which they make from the external to the internal, and 
from the mediate to the immediate hand of God. They are in number ten ; which is 
one of the numbers denoting perfection. They are divided first into nine and one ; 
the last one standing clearly apart from all the others, in the awful shriek of woe 
which it draws forth from every Egyptian home. The nine are arranged in threes. 
In the first of each three the w^arning is given to Pharoh in the morning (7:15; 8 : 20 ; 
9 : 13). In the first and second of each three, the plague is announced beforehand 
(8 : 1 ; 9 : 1 ; 10 : 1), in the third not (8 : IG ; 9 : 8 ; 10 : 21). At the third the magicians 



5^ THE FIRST PLAGUE. 

of Pharoli acknowledge the anger of God (8 : 19), at the sixth they cannot stand before 
Moses (9 : 11), and at the ninth Pharoh refuses to see the face of Moses any more 
(10 : 28). In the first three Aaron uses the rod ; in the second three it is not men- 
tioned ; in the third three Moses uses it, though in the last of them only his hand is 
mentioned. All these marks of order lie on the face of the narrative, and point to a 
deeper order of nature and reason out of which they spring. 

The gradation in the severity of these strokes is no less obvious. In the first three 
no distinction is made among the inhabitants of the land ; in the remaining seven a 
distinction is made between the Israelites, who are shielded from, and the Egyptians, 
who are exposed to, the stroke. In these seven which are peculiar to the Egyptians, 
the order is the reverse of that in the work of creation. Three refer to the animal 
creation, and three to the vegetable world, the support of animal life. The last of 
these six is darkness, the opposite of light, the product of the first day ; and the 
seventh is death. The first three affect the health and comfort of man ; the next three 
take away the staff of life ; then comes death itself, and the work of destruction is 
complete. 

To understand the deep import of the conflict between us, let us bear in mind that* 
now for the first time since the dispersion of mankind the opposition between the 
children of God and the children of disobedience is coming out into broad daylight. 
Egypt, that was the kind fosterer of the chosen family, has now become the persecutor 
of Israel, and the avowed antagonist of God. The present struggle is therefore no raid 
for the gathering of booty, nor encounter between two rival nations, nor expedition 
for the selfish ends of an earthly ambition. It is the controversy between light and 
darkness, in which the God of heaven and earth manifests his presence and power on 
behalf of his people and against the defiant nation. This nation is for the time being 
the representative of all heathendom, which is the kingdom of the prince of darkness ; 
and the battle now fought is the model and tj^pe of all future warfare between the 
seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Hence it rises to a transcendent im- 
portance in the ways of God with man, and fitly holds a place even in the preface to 
the ten commandments (20 : 2). 

14-18. The announcement of the first plague. Pharoh' s heart is hard, heavy ("jn^), 
stupid and insensible to right reason and the real state of things. In the preceding 
verse it was described as hard, firm (nifj'')' obstinate, and inflexible in its own selfish 
purpose. In the third verse of this chapter we find another word (ntS'p)' rendered 
hard, applied to the heart, having the sense of obdurate, steeled against every tendei 
or unselfish feeling. We have only the one equivalent for all these terms. Go unto 
Fharoh in the morning. It appears that Pharoh was wont to be out on the banks of the 
Nile in the morning, either for an airing, or to bathe in its waters. He could scarcely 
be supposed to visit the magnificent river without presenting to it some form of ado- 
ration. To the Nile Egypt owed its soil and its fertility. The inhabitants esteemed 
its waters the most delicious beverage, regarded itself as the source of life and pros- 
perity to the nation, and soon began to venerate it as the deity of their land, identical 
vnth Osiris and Apis, Eoyalty would feel itself specially attracted by such a divinity, 
and bound to take a leading part in its worship. At this river's brink, therefore, was 
the fit place to meet Pharoh. The rod which was turned into a serpent, was the wand of 
power by which Moses was distinguished as the minister of heaven. The Loed, This 
is the name of present and active power, by which the God of the Hebrews is now to 
be practically signalized. Pharoh is reminded of the divine message, and of its re- 



EXODUS VII. 19-24. 53 

jection by him. 17. In this thou shall know that I am the Lord. Pharoh is to know, at 
least experimentally, if not submissively and penitently, that grand sentence, " I am 
the Lord." Behold I smite. This was to take place immediately, in the very presence 
of Pharoh. The water which is in the river, that very river which was the object of all 
Egypt' s praise and veneration ! And it shall he turned into blood, blood poured out, and 
therefore dead, and spreading death instead of diffusing life. Hence the fish shall 
die, and the river become putrid and loathsome to the smell and the taste. This was 
sufficient to show, if it was necessary, that the Nile was not a god, but a mere inani- 
mate creature. 

19-24. The fulfilment now follows. Say unto Aaron. Pharoh is to learn the dignity 
of Moses, who commands Aaron his prophet to execute this miracle, and thus Moses 
is a god to Pharoh. Take thy rod. This is the rod of Moses (vs. 15) which Aaron bears. 
Upon their rivers. These appear to be the arms or mouths into which the Nile sepa- 
rates itself in the Delta, of which there were anciently seven. They are called " their 
rivers," that is, those of Egypt, which is here a collective noun denoting the nation. 
Their streams {6i6pvyaS Sept.) are the canals by which the land was irrigated. Their 
ponds are the marshy lakes, such as Moeris and Mareotis. And every pool, every small 
collection or reservoir for private or special use. In all the land of Mizraim, not only 
in the river and all its connected waters, but in the land, that is, as explained, in all 
cisterns, whether of wood or stone, for the filtration or preservation of the water. 
20. In the eyes of Pharoh, and of his servants. A retinue of his courtiers was present 
on the occasion, including priests and magicians. And all the water was turned into 
hlood. The Nile begins to rise about the end of June, and attains its highest point at 
the end of September. About the commencement of the rise it assumes a greenish 
hue, is disagreeable to the taste, unwholesome, and often totally unfit for drinking. 
It soon, however, becomes red and turbid, and continues in this state for three or 
more weeks. In this condition it is again healthy and fit for use. The miracle now 
performed was totally different from this annual change. For (1) it occurred after the 
winter, not the summer, solstice ; (2) the water was turned into blood, and not merely 
reddened by an admixture of red clay or animalcula ; (3) the fish died, a result which 
did not follow from the periodical change of color ; (4) the river stank, and became 
offensive, which it ceased to be when the ordinary redness made its appearance ; (5) 
the stroke was arrested at the end of seven days, whereas the natural redness continued 
for at least three weeks ; and (6) the change was brought on instantly at the word of 
command before the eyes of Pharoh. The calamity was appalling. The sweet waters 
of the Nile were the common beverage of Egypt. It abounded in all kinds of fish, 
which formed a principal article of diet for the inhabitants. It was revered as a god 
by Egypt. But now it was a putrid flood, from which they turned away with loath- 
ing. And the scribes of Mizraim did so with their enchantments. It has been asked where 
they got the water. "We read (in verse 24) that " all Mizraim digged round about the 
river for water to drink." We have no doubt the hieroglyphs of Pharoh had wit 
enough to make the same experiment. The natives of a country in which the only 
river becomes periodically unfit for drinking would not be unfamiliar with the expedi- 
ent of digging for water when the ordinary supply failed. These miracle-mongers 
confine themselves to the safe experiment of imitating on a small scale the work of God's 
servants. It would have been a clear demonstration of their superiority if they 
had countermanded the order of Moses, and converted the morbid mass into a limpid 
stream. This was what Egypt needed. Their trick was but a wretched mockery of 



5,4 THE PLAGUE OF FROGS. 

lielp. 23. Neither did he set his heart even to this. When the will is strongly bent upon 
a foregone conclusion, a very small show of proof will beget conviction. The hiero- 
glyphs managed to exhibit the appearance at least of changing a little v/ater into 
blood. The headstrong monarch is confirmed in his resolve, and returns unmoved by 
Egypt's misery to his home. 25. And seven days were fulfilled. The " smiting" of the 
river was not a momentary act, but a process that lasted for seven days, and then was 
remitted. This carries us on to about the 27th of January. We are not informed 
what length of time was occupied with the other plagues ; but it will serve the purpose 
of order and clearness to suppose that seven days elapsed during the course of each 
of the seven following. 

This miracle was not merely a judicial, but a significant act. It marks the retribu- 
tion of heaven. Pharoh orders the male infants of the Hebrews to be cast into the 
river, that they might perish there, and become food for its fish. That very river is 
changed into a stream of death. It displays also the folly of creature-worship. 
Pharoh adores the life-sustaining power of nature, as embodied in the majestic river 
before him. The God of nature transforms the running water into a river of death 
before his eyes. It demonstrates, in the way that was most striking to the Hebrew and 
the Egyptian, that the God of Israel was the true and only God of heaven and earth, 
and that all other objects of worship were but the creatures of God or the works of 
men's hands. 

The next four verses of the Hebrew text, appended in Van der Hooght's edition to 
this chapter, are here, for the sake of convenience, transferred to the beginning of the 
next chapter, in accordance with a considerable number of mss. and some early ver- 
sions, including the Vulgate. This arrangement of the text is adopted in Walton's 
Poly^ott and the English Version. 



VI. THE SECOISD THREE PLAGUES.— Ex. 8 : 20-9 : 12. 

CHAP. VIII. — THE PLAGUES OF (2) FROGS, (3) LICE, AND (4) FLIES. 

9. "^i-^Cnn- This form elsewhere denotes to glory or vaunt one^s self. Here, 
however, the Sept. gives ra^di, the Vulg. constitue, and the Targum of Onke- 
los, " set thou a time. " The former meaning must, in the present passage, be 
taken in a pregnant sense, and include the latter. The radical signification of 
the verb, namely, to be 'bright, clear^ however, will naturally yield the latter as a 
seftondary meaning. 

16. C33 ^33 ^*'^^- In the Talmud n33 « louse. The Jewish interpreters 
(including Onkelos and Josephus), the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Talmud, give 
thib meaning, which is supported by Bochart. The Sept. gives gkvI(PeS, which 
Gesenius and others take to mean gnats. But Kuvuf or i/uriS is the gnat. The 
cKvli) is said to be an ant that preys on figs, or an insect that lives under the 
barh of trees. Either of these bears more analogy to the louse than to the gnat or 
mosquito. The louse is also found " on men and beasts," while the gnat flies in 
the air. The former is also more clearly distinguished from the nny than the 
latter. 

21. ;2"iy fly- The Sept. gives Kwofivia, dog-Jiy ; Aquila nu/ifivca^ all hinds of 



EXODL'S VIII. • 00 

flies. It seems probable that as the n33 is a parasitical animal without wings, 
so the 2-;y is a fly that has a long proboscis, piercing the skin, sucking the bloody 
and leaving a painful and highly inflamed w^ound. It may derive its name from ' 
^-^y the evening, when it becomes most troublesome, or from 2~iy ^^ ^^^^i because 
the whole class of flies is included. Kalisch is strongly in favor of the beetle 
{Blatta Orientalis) ; but this does not attack men. In the absence of any very 
distinct aid from usage, the word being found only in this passage and in Ps. 
78 : 45 ; 105 : 31, it seems better to adhere to the generic term, fly, which accords 
best with all the circumstances noted. It fastens on man, enters houses, and 
infests fields. 

VIII. 1. And the Lokd said unto Moses, Go in to Pharoh, and say unto him, Thus 
saith the Lokd, Let my people go and serve me. 2. And if thou refuse to let them go, 
behold, I will smite all thy border with frogs. 3. And the river shall swarm with 
frogs, and they shall come up, and go in to thy house, and to thy sleepmg-room, and 
upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and on thy people, and into thine 
ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs, 4. And on thee and on thy people and on all 
thy servants shall the frogs come up. 5. And the Lokd said unto Moses, Say unto 
Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand, with thy rod, over the rivers and over the streams and 
over the ponds, and bring up the frogs upon the land of Mizraim. 6, And Aaron 
stretched forth his hand over the waters of Mizraim, and the frogs came up and covered 
the land of Mizraim. 7. And the scribes did so with their enchantments, and brought 
up frogs upon the land of Mizraim. 

8. And Pharoh called for Moses and Aaron, Entreat the Loed and let him take away 
the frogs from me and from my people ; and I will let the people go and sacrifice unto 
the Lokd. 9. And Moses'said unto Pharoh, Prescribe imto me when I shall entreat 
for thee and for thy servants and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and thy 
houses : only in the river shall they remain. 10. And he said, To-morrow. And he 
said, Be it according to thy word ; that thou mayest know that there is none like unto 
the Lord our God. 11. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, 
and from thy servants, and from thy people ; only in the river shall they remain. 
12. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharoh ; and Moses cried unto the Loed on 
account of the frogs which he had brought on Pharoh. 13. And the Lord did accord- 
ing to the word of Moses : and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and 
out of the fields. 14. And they gathered them together in heaps ; and the land stank. 
15. And Pharoh saw that there was respite ; and he hardened his heart and hearkened 
not unto them, as the Lord had spoken. § 6. 

16. And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thy rod, and 
smite the dust of the land, and it shall become lice in all the land of Mizraim. 17. 
And they did so : and Aaron stretched out his hand, with his rod, and smote the dust 
of the land, and it became lice on man and on beast : all the dust of the land became 
lice in all the land of Mizraim. 18. And the scribes did so with their enchantments 
to bring forth the lice, and could not : and the lice were on man and on beast. 
19. And the scribes said unto Pharoh, This is the finger of God. And Pharoh's heart 
was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken. § 7. 

20. And the Lord said unto Moses, Bise up early in the morning, and stand before 
Pharoh ; lo, he cometh forth to the water : and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, 
Let ray people go and serve me. 21. For if thou wilt not let my people go, behold I 
send upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses the 
fly ; and the houses of Mizraim shall be full of the fly, and even the ground whereon 
thej^ are. 22. And I will sever in that day that land of Goshen, on which my people 
stand, that the fly may not be there ; that thou mayest know that I am the Lord in 
the midst of the land. 23. And I will put a division between my people and thy 
people : to-morrow shall this sign be. 24. And the Lord did so, and there came a 
grievous fly into Pharoh's house and the house of his servants ; and in all the land of 
Mizraim the land was destroyed by reason of the fly. 

25. And Pharoh called Moses and Aaron, and said. Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the 



56 THE PLAGL^E OF FROGS. 

land. 26. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do ; for we shall sacrifice the abomi- 
nation of Mizraim to the Lord onr God : lo, we shall sacrifice the abomination of 
Mizraim before their eyes, and will they not stone us ? 27. We will go three days' 
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lobd our God, as he shall say unto 
us. 28. And Pharoh said, I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lokd your God in the 
wilderness ; only ye shall not go very far away : entreat for me. 29. And Moses said. 
Behold, I go out from thee and entreat the Lord, and the fly shall depart from Pha- 
roh, from his servants, and from his people to-morrow : only let not Pharoh deal 
falsely any more, not to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lobd. 30. And Moses 
went out from Pharoh, and entreated the Lokd. 31. And the Lord did according to 
the word of Moses, and removed the fly from Pharoh, from his servants, and from his 
people : not one remained. 32. And Pharoh hardened his heart at this time also ; 
neither did he let the people go. TF H- 

In this chapter we have the plagues of the frogs, the lice, and the fly grouped 
together, probably because they all belong to the smaller tribes of animals. In the 
conception of the author, however, it is evident that the two former, with the change 
of water into blood, constitute the first triad of judicial visitations, as two of them are 
announced beforehand and the third not, according to a law which is observed in each 
triad. 

1-15. The plague of frogs. Go in to Pharoh. This infliction is to be announced to 
Pharoh in his palace, as the former was by the river side (7 : 15). The request for 
leave to depart is repeated, and in case of refusal the plague of frogs is threatened. 
3, 4. The river shall swarm icith frogs. Frogs abound in Egypt. They appear, when 
the river overflows the country, in all the pools of water. The common frog, the 
green or edible frog {rana esculenta), and the speckled frog {rana punctata), are found 
in Egypt. The number of eggs in the spawn of a single frog varies from one thousand 
to fifteen hundred. The appearance of these animals in considerable numbers on 
land is generally preceded and accompanied by heavy storms of rain (Kitto' s Cyclo- 
paedia). Such an accompaniment would render the visitation more appalling to the 
Egyptians. 

The phraseology here is similar to that employed in the six days' creation (Gen. 
1 : 20). Miracles are not the less supernatural because their products are natural ob- 
jects previously well known, as frogs, or are placed in ordinary circumstances, as frogs 
in the standing water of a river, or are even arranged in natural succession, as frogs 
in the Nile after its change of color. The Author of nature does not put himself out 
of all relation with the laws he has imposed on nature when he introduces a new effect 
of his power into the sphere of nature. His wondrous deeds come under the law of 
reason, and therefore fall in with the law of nature. The miracle consists in the event 
described, (1) happening accordingly ; (2) in the circumstances predicted, or at the 
v/ord of command ; (3) without any ordinary causes either existing or having had 
time to operate ; and (4) further, it may be at an unusual season, and in an unusually 
magnified form. The last condition, however, is not absolutely necessary. The 
event is described with considerable minuteness in these two verses. It is evidently 
aggravated beyond the usual form. The frogs venture into the houses, the sleeping 
apartments, the very beds. They penetrate into the ovens and kneading-troughs. 
The baking oven was often a round hole, three feet deep, and plastered with mud. 
This was heated by burning brushwood in it. The dough was then spread with the 
hand on its sides, and speedily baked (Layard's Nineveh). A pot of earthenware, of 
nearly the same shape, was also employed for the same purpose, the fire being placed 
within, and the dough applied withoiit. Into such a vessel or pit, when unemployed, 



EXODUS YIII. 5-15. 57 

the frogs might easily enter, Thej^ even leap upon the person (" on thee"), probably 
when reclining for repose. The annoyance of such a yisitation can hardly be conceived. 

5-7. Aaron stretching forth his hand, with the wand of power, is here the sign, 
equivalent to the word of command. The rivers, see 7 : 19. Upon the land. Their 
usual place was the river. Covered the land. This extraordinary abundance on the 
land accounts for their intrusion into the apartments and utensils of the people. Here 
the event takes place, according to the description, at the sign of command, without 
any ordinary cause. Frogs are not usually spawned, transformed into tadpoles, and 
then into frogs, and spread over a country in the course of a few minutes. The magi- 
cians imitated this miracle, no doubt at the summons of Pharoh, it is needless to in- 
quire how. It would have been more to the purpose if by their enchantments they 
had cleared the land of them. 

8-15. The removal of the frogs. And Pharoh called for Moses and Aaron. He is at 
length moved. Having at his command all the resources of sovereignty, he may have 
been tolerably supplied with well-water, even when the river flowed with blood. He 
did not feel much personal inconvenience from the former plague. But he cannot 
escape the presence and contact of these loathsome creatures. He suffers more from 
their offensive intrusion than his meanest subjects. He must take all means to escape 
fi-om this unutterable pest. His hieroglyphs fail him in the hour of need. Else he 
would never have had recourse to Moses and Aaron. Entreat the Lord. Here is an ex- 
plicit acknowledgment of the Lord forced from him who said, " Who is the Lord, that 
I should obey his voice ? I know not the Lord " (vs. 2). Let him take away the frogs. 
He only who sent them can take them aM^ay. This is Pharoh' s present experience. 
And 1 will let the people go. He now humbly promises, who once and again had said, " I 
will not let Israel go." His former language is now completely revoked. It remains 
to be seen whether the will corresponds with the word. 

9-11. Prescribe unto me when I shall entreat for thee. The original means, either " glory 
over me, defy me, by setting the time when I am to do this, " or determine for me." 
The former is a challenge to Pharoh to defy him (Moses) to work the miracle at a 
prescribed time. The latter is simply leaving the time of performance to be determined 
by Pharoh. This is the easier sense, and is involved in the former. Only in the river, 
the element in which they are usually seen, when they appear at all. "When they re- 
tire for hibernation they are not open to common observation. 

12-15. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. This is the second and de- 
cisive part of the miracle. The frogs suddenly die out of the land, are gathered in 
heaps or measures, and emit a grievous stench. Thus at the word of Moses they come, 
and at his word they go. There is a power here above nature. The God of nature 
is with Moses. He accomplishes what the magicians did not attempt. Pharoh, how- 
ever, thinks not of this demonstration of the divine power and mercy, but only of 
the "respite." On obtaining relief his obduracy of heart returns. His promise, it 
now appears, was from the lip, not the heart. 

The plague of frogs was fraught with its own lessons to all parties concerned. One 
of the feeblest and most harmless of living creatures was by its miraculous multipli- 
cation made a source of greater distress to Pharoh than even the turning of the Nile 
into blood ; compelling him to confess the impotence of his own gods and their at- 
tendants, to acknowledge the omnipotence of Jehovah, to implore the intercession of 
his ministers, and to promise all that was demanded of him. God has at hand in the 
weakest things the most abundant means and the most unexpected ways of chastising 



58 THE PLAGUE OE LICE. 

the transgressor. The frog, moreover, had a certain significance to Egypt. It was the 
symbol of human life in embryo. In the hieroglyphics it sat on a ring, one of the 
emblems of life, and from its back rose a palm branch, the symbol of the month or of 
time. The frog-headed god is a form of Pthah, the creative or formative principle. 
Whatever mysterious connection the frog had with life in the mind of an Egyptian, it 
is evident that the reptile lives and dies at the will of the God of Moses. Whatever 
divinity or divine attribute was ascribed to it, or denoted by it, the frog itself is but 
an inferior creature of the true God, moving in a sphere immeasurably beneath that 
of man, and unconsciously fulfilling its humble function in the economy of nature. 
This base creature is now made to bend the refractory will of proud Pharoh. 

16-19. The plague of lice. We are now come to the third plague. No warning is 
here given to Pharoh. His treacherous dealing had forfeited even this measure of 
forbearance. Say unto Aaron. As in the former two of this triad, the performance is 
assigned to Aaron. Smite the dust of the land. The frogs had their source in the rivers 
and ponds ; the lice in the dust of the land. The latter plague is thus the comple- 
ment of the former. And it shall become lice. The reasons for retaining this version 
have been already assigned ; to which it is only necessary to' add that vermin of the 
kind is one of the common annoyances of Egypt. Herodotus tells us (ii. 37) that the 
priests shave their whole body every other day, that no lice or other impure. thing may 
adhere to them when they are engaged in the service of the gods. It is manifest that 
this species of vermin was particularly disgusting to the Egyptians ; and it is said 
that in the space of a year one of these creatures will produce five thousand eggs or 
nits. On man and on beast. This is one of the aggravations of this plague. The 
stream of blood was a distant object, which could be alleviated by digging for water. 
The frogs were a loathsome and disgusting nuisance in the houses and on the furni- 
ture of the people ; but still they did not ordinarily come into contact with their per- 
sons, or inflict pain. The lice, on the other hand, inhabited the skin, sucked the 
blood, caused a disagreeable itching, created a feeling of uncleanness, and threatened 
to become a disease of the most frightful description. Aiid could not. The magicians 
of Pharoh attempt to imitate this miracle, but fail. This is a second point in which 
this miracle surpasses the others. Even so minute an animal as this they are unable 
to produce. This is the finger of God. They are obliged to confess that this was the 
effect of divine power. It is obvious, however, that this was said to cover their de- 
feat ; and therefore their meaning is, that this visitation was brought on by the ordi- 
nary providence and power of God, and not by any magic art or miraculous power, 
either of Moses and Aaron, or of themselves. This accounts for the persistence of 
Pharoh in his obstinacy. Adopting the solution of his counsellors, he regards this 
event no longer as a sign or wonder wrought by the ministers of Jehovah, but as a 
mere effect of the general providence of God, and therefore to be borne with patience 
so long as it should last. 

This plague was not without its weighty lessons. A still more minute and con- 
temptible animal was now made a source of extreme annoyance to the Egyptians. It 
infested all men, priests as well as others, and therefore unfitted them for entering the 
temples of their gods. It appeared on all beasts, sacred as well as profane, and there- 
fore on all the animals that were regarded as divinities ; and it defiled everything it 
touched. Thus contempt was brought on everything that was vainly imagined to be 
sacred among the Egyptians. Next, the miracle-mongers of Egypt are confessedly 
unable to produce as weU as to remove this grievous and loathsome infliction : and 



EXODUS Yin. 20-32. 59 

hence, we may infer they were equally unable to call into or bid out of existence any 
other conceivable thing. Lastly, their ready insinuation that this was an event com- 
ing from the hand of providence, and not a judgment from Jehovah, inflicted through 
his ministers, is accepted by Pharoh, not because it is well founded, but because it 
accords with his wish. 

8 : 20-9 : 12. This passage contains the second triad of plagues, in which God acts 
without the intervention of any sign on the part of his servants. In the third, indeed, 
Moses sprinkles the ashes toward heaven, but still makes no sign with the rod. Thus 
it is made plain that the true wonder-worker is not tied to any mode of introducing 
his wonders. From this time forward, also, a distinction is put between the Israelites 
and the Egyptians. The former seem to have been partial sufferers in the first three 
plagues. They needed the chastisement ; and their habitual attachment to the land 
of their birth was gradually abated by the afflictions thus associated with it, 

20-32. The plague of flies inflicted. Bise up early in the morning. This plague, like 
the first, is announced to Pharoh in the morning, and by the river's side. Leave to 
depart is requested for the people of God, as on other occasions. The fly. This term 
serves to denote a kind of insect that alights on the skin or the leaves of plants, by 
its bite inflicting pain in the one case, and causing destruction in the other. The 
swarms of flies in Egypt are usually numerous and excessively annoying. They alight 
on the moist parts of the eyelids and nostrils, and inflict wounds that produce great 
pain, swelling, and inflammation. They are also ruinous to the plants in which they 
lay their eggs, Philo (vii. Mos. ii. p. 110) describes the dog-fly or gad-fly as a grievous 
pest of Egypt. Gnats and mosquitoes are also abundant and virulent. A plague of 
such creatures would cause immense suffering and desolation. Even the ground where- 
on they are. The whole land in which the Egyptians dwell will be infested with this 
fly. 22. And I will sever, make distinct, and even wonderful, both of which thoughts 
are implied in the verb. The land of Goshen, in which the Israelites dwell (stand), 
shaU be free from this and the following inflictions. That thou mayest know. Every- 
thing God does has a lesson for the intelligent observer. I am the Lord in the midst of 
the land. As the stroke falls upon the Egyptians, and not on the Israelites, it is man- 
ifest, (1) that it has come from the God of the Hebrews ; (2) that this great Being has 
equal power in Egj^pt as elsewhere ; and (3) that therefore he is Jehovah, the Creator 
and Upholder of all things, the one only true and living God. A division (nilS)' 
a release, an untying of the connection between them. To-morrow. At a fixed point of 
time shall this plague make its appearance. Time for reflection is thus given to Pharoh. 
The miraculous nature of the event is also demonstrated. The sign. It is appropri- 
ately called a sign, as it bears evidence to all the important truths which have been 
already noticed. A grievous fly, grievous on account of its nuipabers and noxious 
effects. The land was destroyed. The verdure with which the earth was now covered 
was seriously damaged by its attacks. 

25-32. The removal of the fly on the intercession of Moses and Aaron. " And Pharoh 
called Moses and Aaron. His conjurers are now no longer mentioned. He is com- 
l^elled to appeal again to the servants of Jehovah. Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the 
land. The time for sacrifice is here conceded, but not the place. It is not meet so to 
do. It is not right in a moral point of view. The reason is assigned in the following 
verse. The abomination of Mizraim is either that which Egypt abominates, or that 
which the Lord abominates in Egypt. In this case, as the Egyptians were idolaters, 



60 PESTILEKCE, BOILS, AKD HAIL. 

the two meanings in a great measure coincide. The matter and manner of the Hebrew 
sacrifice would be an abomination to the Egyptian. The matter, for the cow was 
sacred to Isis, the goat was worshipped by the Mendesians, the ram by the Thebans, 
and the bull by the Memphians and others ; the manner, because the minute and 
punctilious ritual of the Egyptians in regard to the cleanness of the victims would not 
be observed. The sacrificing of animals whom they worshipped, and without the 
regulations of a superstitious purity, would prompt them to stone the worshippers. 
On the other hand, the bulls of Memphis, of Heliopolis, and of Hermonthis, the ram 
of Thebes, the goat of Mendes, and the other animals worshipped by the Egyptians, 
could not but be an abomination to the holy and living and true God. 27. As he shall 
say unto us. The Lord had not yet prescribed the manner of sa crifice, but only the 
place. 28-30. Pharoh now gives a reluctant permission, on which Moses promises the 
removal of the fly by his intercession, and admonishes Pharoh not to be false a second 
time to his word. 31, 32. The Lord removes the fly at the appointed time (to-morrow) 
with as much ease as he had brought it. This is the second and most decisive part of 
the miracle. Pharoh, having no moral principle, returns to his obduracy of heart as 
soon as the pressure is removed. 

Even creatures that came under the designation of the fly were connected with the 
animal worship of the Egyptians. The beetle {scarabeus) was one of the most com- 
mon sacred emblems of Egypt, and represented the sun. The large class of diminu- 
tive creatures to which it belongs is here raised up for the chastisement of the nation, 
and removed again at the intercession of Moses. The relief of the Israelites from the 
plague was calculated to detach them still more from the nation and territory of Egypt, 
and attach them with a more enlightened confidence and veneration to the God of 
their fathers. 



Vn. THIRD THREE PLAGUES.— Ex. 9:13-10. 

'CHAP. TX. — THE PLAGUES OP (5) PESTILENCE, (6) BOILS, (7) HAIL. 

3. -]2"^ pestilence ; r. follow, persecute, destroy. It applies to men as well as 
cattle. 

8. pir) ashes, dust, a\Bd7ir} (Sept.) ; r. Uow away. \^'2'^ furnace. Smelting fur- 
nace, or limekiln (Kimchi). "113171 &<^^^^^ oven. 

9. pn^ fine dust, or powder ; r. turn, whirl. 

10. 'np(]2) hail, inflamed swelling, j^'^^'^^b^ hlains, pustules ; ^IvKrldei (Sept.); r. 
T)urst or gush forth. 

IX. 1. Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharoh, and tell him. Thus 
saith the Lokd, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go and serve me. 2. For if 
thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3. Behold, the hand of the 
Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon 
the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep, as a very grievous pestilence. 4. And 
the LoBD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Mizraim, and noth- 
ing shall die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel. 5. And the Loed appointed a 
set time, saying, To-morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land. 6. And the 
Lord did this thing on the morrow ; and all the cattle of Mizraim died ; but of the 
cattle of the sons of Israel died not one. 7. And Pharoh sent, and, behold, not even 



EXODUS IX. 1-7. 61 

one of the cattle of Israel was dead. And Pharoh's heart was hardened, and he did 
not let the people go. ^ 12. 

8. And the Lokd said nnto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you the hands full of 
ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharoh. 
9. And it shall become dust in all the land of Mizraim ; and shall be a boil breaking 
forth with blains upon man and upon beast in all the land of Mizraim, 10. And they 
took ashes of the furnace and stood before Pharoh, and Moses sprinkled it toward the 
sky ; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast. 11. 
And the scribes could not stand before Moses because of the boil : for the boil was 
upon the scribes and upon all Mizraim. 12. And the Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, 
and he hearkened not unto them ; as the Loed had spoken unto Moses. § 8. 

13. And the Loed said unto Moses, Eise up early in the morning and stand before 
Pharoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Loed, the God of the Hebrews, Let my 
people go and serve me. 14. For at this time I will send all my plagues into thy heart, 
and on thy servants, and on thy people ; that thou mayest know that there is none 
like me in all the earth. 15. For now I had stretched out my hand and smitten thee 
and thy people with the pestilence ; and thou wouldst have been cut off from the 
earth. 16. But for this have I raised thee up, to show thee my power, and to declare 
my name in all thy earth. 17. As yet thou exaltest thyself against my people, that 
thou wilt not let them go. 18. Behold at this time to-morrow I will rain a very griev- 
ous hail, such as hath not been in Mizraim from the day of its foundation even until 
now. 19. Send now, therefore, and bring in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the 
field : for upon every man or beast which is found in the field, and is not gathered 
into the house, the hail shall come down, and they shall die. 20. He that feared the 
word of the Lord among the servants of Pharoh made his servants and his cattle flee 
into the houses. 21. And he that set not his heart to the word of the Lord left his 
servants and his cattle in the field. ^ 13. 

22. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, and let 
there be hail in all the land of Mizraim, upon man and upon beast, and upon every 
herb of the field in the land of Mizraim. 23. And Moses stretched forth his rod 
toward heaven ; and the Loed sent thunder and hail, and fire fell upon the earth; 
and the Loed rained hail upon the land of Mizraim. 24. And there was hail, and fire 
flashing amid the hail, very grievous, such as was not in all the land of Mizraim 
since it became a nation. 25. And the hail smote in all the land of Mizraim all that 
was in the field from man to beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake 
every tree of the field. 26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, 
was there no hail. 

27. And Pharoh sent and called Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have 
sinned this time : the Loed is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28. En- 
treat the Loed, and let there be no more thunderings of God and hail ; and I will let 
you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29. And Moses said unto him, When I come out of 
the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Loed : the thunderings shall cease, 
neither shall there be any more hail, that thou mayest know that the earth is the 
Loed's. 30. And as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye do not fear the Lord 
God. 31. And the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear, 
and the flax was boiled. 32. And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they 
are late. 33. And Moses came out of the city from Pharoh, and spread abroad his 
hands to the Loed ; and the thunders and hail ceased, and rain was not poured on the 
earth. 34. And Pharoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, 
and he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35. And Pha- 
roh' s heart was hardened, neither did he let the sons of Israel go ; as the Lord had 
spoken by the hand of Moses. 15. 1[T[T[ 14. 

In this chapter we have the plagues of pestilence, boils, and hail. The first two 
complete the second triad and close the section in which they are contained. 

1-7. The plague of pestilence. Go in unto Pharoh. As in the second plague of the 
former triad (8 : 1). And wilt hold them still. This is added to mark the pertinacity 
of Pharoh, notwithstanding the severe chastisements he had already suffered for his 
obstinacy. . 3. The hand of the Lord. This will be more manifest, as no waving of the 



62 PESTILEi^CE, BOILS, AlTD HAIL. 

rod or hand precedes the appearance of the miracle. Upon thy cattle (njnXD)» ^ general 
name for all domestic animals, that constitute a great part of the properly of a pas- 
toral or agricultural people. Which is in the field. This limits the extent of the pesti- 
lence to the animals that were in the open air. Horses. The first notice of these is in 
Gen. 47 : 17. Egypt was celebrated for its horses, which appear on its sculptures. 
They were employed in the chariot of war or state. The object of worship at Mem- 
phis, Heliopolis, and Hermonthis was the hull; at Thebes thera?7i, at Mendes the goat. 
The sheep here (W\j) are the small cattle, including the goats. Asses are mentioned 
on the monuments of Egypt. They were used for riding or draught. The Bactrian 
camel has two humps, the Arabian one. The latter was known and employed on the 
borderland between Egypt and Arabia ; but has not been found on the ancient mon- 
uments of the former country. Its presence here favors the supposition that the 
north-east part of Egypt was at the time under a dynasty of the Shepherd kings, who 
came from Arabia. A very grievous pestilence. We follow the original here in using the 
more general term, pestilence (~^n^), as we find it also employed in reference to the 
human species (vs. 15). The miracle consists in its being very grievous, in being sent 
at an appointed time (vs. 5), and in being limited to the cattle of the Egyptians. A 
severance takes place here, as in the preceding plague (8 : 22). To-morrow. A set time 
of inflicting the stroke is as significant of the divine intervention as a set time of with- 
drawing it (8 : 29). 6. All the cattle of Mizrabn. This is to be limited to the kinds 
already mentioned, and also to those of them that were in the field (vs. 3). Wilkinson 
("Ancient Egyptians," 2d Series, I. p. 96) informs us that some animals were stall-fed 
among the Egyptians. This explains the limitation, " in the field," and the existence 
of some cattle among the Egj'^ptians after the pestilence had done its work (vs. 19). 
7. And PharoKs heart was hardened. We may suppose that the pestilence among the 
cattle did not much affect him personally, and that he was irritated to find that the 
cattle of the Israelites had escaped. 

Hitherto the plagues had given great personal annoyance, but had not involved 
much loss of property. But now the hand of the corrector comes down upon the main 
branch of the country' s wealth. Cattle, besides being a chief means of food and cloth- 
ing, were employed by the Egyptians in treading the seed into the ground, in treading 
out the corn, and in conveying the produce of the country to the place of storage. The 
destruction of cattle was therefore a serious loss to the Egyptian farmer. The hand 
of the Lord was manifest herein distinguishing the cattle of Israel from that of Mizraim. 

8-12. The plague of boils. This third plague of the second triad is not announced 
to Pharoh. Ashes of the furnace. This is taken to be the fine ash or soot of some of 
the furnaces for the purposes of art that stood in the open air. Bust, a fine powder 
floating in the air, and pregnant with disease. A boil {YJ^]f;)- This is afterward 
mentioned as the boil of Mizraim, and seems therefore to be an endemic disease. Vari- 
ous conjectures have been offered as to its nature, but none of them is satisfactory. 
The description of it bears some resemblance to elephantiasis, a dreadful form of lep- 
rosy prevalent in Egypt, so called because it makes the feet swollen and stiff, like the 
elephant's feet. But this disease does not attack the brute creation. The scribes could 
not stand before Moses. At the third plague the magicians of Pharoh failed in their en- 
chantments, and acknowledged the finger of God. At this, the second third, they 
hasten away from Moses covered with shame and humiliation. The punctilious atten- 
tion of the Egyptians to personal cleanliness is noted by Herodotus. In particular, 
the priests shave their whole body every other day. Their dress is entirely of linen. 



EXODUS IX. 13-21. 63 

They bathe twice every day in cold water, and twice each night (Herodotus, ii. 37). 
Their confusion and distress therefore must have been great to find themselves now 
covered with an eruptive disease, that mocked all their precautions, and rendered them 
unfit for their sacerdotal duties. And the Lord hardened PharoK s heart. Here it is to 
be observed that the very means that would have brought an unbiassed and unclouded 
mind to conviction and submission only begat a stolid and infatuated obstinacy in the 
monarch of Egypt. The course of the divine interposition has been one of uniform 
mildness and forbearance, only proceeding to judicial chastisements when negotiation 
would not avail, and advancing gradually to severer measures only when the more 
gentle were disregarded. Hio obduracy is now come to such a pitch of stupidity that 
we cannot catch a shadow of reason for his conduct. 

Hitherto the Lord has tried to move the heart of the king by a series of external 
privations and penalties. The want of water, the presence of a loathsome reptile, the 
creeping and biting of a nauseous insect, the fierce stinging of the fly-swarm, and the 
loss occasioned \>j the pestilence among the cattle, have been all in vain. Now the life 
is menaced. A boil breaking out in blains or open sores has fallen upon man and 
beast. We may be sure that the sacred animals that were objects of worship would 
not escape this plague ; and we may imagine what consternation this would create 
throughout all Egypt. 

This closes the second section relating to the plagues. Allowing a week for each of 
the six plagues already recorded, and twenty days for the previous transactions, we 
are brought to the 3d of March at the end of the sixth plague. 

9 : 13-10. This section contains the record of the next three plagues — the hail, the 
locusts, and the darkness. These rise in terrific severity above all that precede them. 

13-21. The hail threatened. As usual in the first of each triad, Moses is to meet 
Pharoh at the usual time, and probably in the usual place, to demand the release of 
the people, and announce the immediate consequence of refusal. All my plagues. This 
expression occurring in the announcement of the first of another three, is an indica- 
tion of the ternary arrangement. It refers to all the following manifestations of the 
divine power, at least to those which form the third series of plagues. Into thy heart. 
By the following judgments Pharoh will be at length brought to feel in his heart the 
folly and guilt of resisting the Almighty. None like me in all the earth. The Egyptians, 
like the other Gentiles, had now wandered away from the true notion concerning God 
which had come down from their forefathers. The false gods, fashioned after the 
vain fancies of a disorderly imagination, bore no moral resemblance to the true God, 
Pharoh is now to learn this great fact in his experience, if not in his understanding 
and his heart. I had stretched out my hand. I might have smitten thee and thy people 
with the pestilence as easily as I smote thy cattle, and thou wouldest have been annihi- 
lated, thyself, and all thy opposition to my reasonable demands. The Lord here gives 
us some insight into the theory of his administration. It is instructive, corrective, 
and in the last resort punitive ; but in no case merely destructive of moral agents. 
He that would sweep into instant annihilation all the opponents of his will has no 
idea of God's principle of action or mode of dealing with his rational creatures. Not 
even a particle of irrational matter is bidden out of existence by the great God who 
called it into being. Still less will his moral and responsible creatures be sent out of 
existence, or at once forced into submission by the high hand of an irresistible des- 
potism. He will approach them with love, with reason, with justice. Only when such 



64 THE HAIL THREATEN^ED. 

methods fail, will he have recourse to a patient and duly tempered correction. And 
Pharoh will be an example to all contemporary nations, and, through the books of 
Moses, to all succeeding generations, of the mercy, patience, forbearance, justice, and 
holiness of God. But for this have I raised thee up ; not stricken thee down with the 
pestilence, but preserved thee from it in my long-suffering patience. To show thee my 
power. To convince thee while thou livest, and there is yet time to repent, if thou 
wilt be convinced, of my power, my eternal power and Godhead, in contrast with all 
impotent and imaginary gods in whom thou hast heretofore trusted. And to declare my 
name in all the earth, to make thy history a perpetual lesson for the instruction of all 
mankind in the knowledge of my name, my real nature, which has come to be so 
grievously and fatally misapprehended. As yet thou exaltest thyself. Thou still persist- 
est in thy haughty refusal. There is a sublime dignity in the continued moderation 
which this expostulation displays. 

17-21. At this time to-morrow. Pharoh might have learned by this time that the 
Lord is punctual to his time. A very grievous hail. Showers of hail in the winter sea- 
son were not unknown in Egypt, as even the present passage informs us. But this is 
to be such as had not been since Egypt was founded, that is, since it became a nation 
(vs. 24). Send now, therefore, and bring in thy cattle. The Lord here remembers mercy, 
and leaves an opening for faith to assert itself. He looks for believers even among the 
Egyptians ; and he did not look in vain. This warning divided them into two classes, 
the one fearing the Lord, and the other still disregarding him. 

22-26. On the morrow the performance comes. Stretch forth thy hand, with the wand 
of power (vs. 23). Moses is described as the agent in these three plagues (10 : 12, 21). 
Thunder, voices (p^p), voices of God, as Pharoh expresses it (vs. 28). The primitive 
mind regarded the thunder-peal as the sublimest utterance of the God of nature. Phi- 
losophy and theology alike bow to the solemn sentiment that the heavens declare the 
glory of God. The thunder is but one note in the great accord of universal nature in 
which he speaks to us of himself. Fire fell upon the earth, the lightning-flash, of which 
the thunder-clap was the accompaniment. Flashing, darting suddenly, and seizing 
upon its object. Smote every herh, and brake every tree. The lightning and hail that 
killed everj'- man and beast were sufficient to destroy the green leaves and stalks of the 
herbs, and the branches as well as foliage of the trees. Only in the land of Goshen. 
Here again Israel is exempted from the effects of this judgment, as we have no doubt 
they were from the preceding one, though it be not mentioned. 

27-30. Pharoh is again overwhelmed by this judgment, and for the third time prom- 
ises submission. I have sinned this time. Now, at length, I acknowledge that I have 
sinned. The loss of his servants and cattle, with the awful lightnings and thunder- 
ings, brings a dawning conviction into his mind that God is right and he is wrong. 
The expression of this in words is needed, after having twice asked and obtained re- 
mission, and as often falsified his word. Let there be no more thunderings of God. Let 
it be enough (n*^), and no more of these awful voices. And ye shall stay no longer. A 
promise of immediate dismissal. True to his character of giving heed to the latest 
and feeblest appeal to his mercy, the Lord is ready to withdraw his heavy hand. When 
I come out of the city. We learn here incidentally that Pharoh dwelt in a city. The 
probability is in favor of On or Bubastis, from their proximity to the Nile and the sit- 
uation of the Israelites. TTiat thou may est know that the earth is the Lord's. Another 
proof of this great fact is to be afforded to Pharoh, if he have only the heart to under- 
stand the lesson. 30. 1 know that ye do not fear the Lord God. Moses has learned 



EXODUS X. 65 

much since he entered upon the task of deliyering the Lord's people. He can now 
speak with fluency and precision. The Lord has enabled him to judge of the character 
of Ph aroh and his court. Here, for the first time since Gen. 2 : 3, have we Jehovah 
follow ed by Elohim in the absolute form. This is not without its significance. The 
grand primeval truth that the God of the Hebrews is the absolute and eternal God 
(C^I^K) antecedent to all creation, and therefore the only Creator and Upholder of 
heaven and earth (nl'n"!)' l^^s been presented in the most conspicuous manner to the 
mind of Pharoh. Moses therefore seasonably intimates by the juxtaposition of the 
two names that Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, is no local or national God, but the 
sole and absolute God. He at the same time intimates that the mere acknowledgment 
of this vital truth in words is not sufficient. It is the acknowledgment of the heart 
only that will influence the conduct and issue in spontaneous obedience to the will of 
God. 

31-35. The remission effected. The flax and the harley. Egypt was celebrated for 
its linen. Its mummies we find swathed in this fabric. Barley was extensively sown 
in this country, and was used for feeding cattle, and making bread and a kind of ale. 
The sowing time was in October and November. The flax and barley were ripe 
about the end of March, and therefore the one was in the ear and the other boiled 
about the beginning of that month. The wheat and the spelt. Egypt was m.ost prolific 
in wheat, which was often seven-headed, and yielded a hundredfold. It was in some 
measure the granary of the ancient world, as well as the great mart for flax or linen. 
Rye was not a grain cultivated in Egypt, as it belongs to colder countries. The gx^ain 
here rendered spelt may have been that which is now known as doora. These grains 
ripened a month later than the barley and flax. This crop was therefore only injured, 
not destroyed, by the hail. He sinned yet more. Pharoh had confessed his sin, but it 
appears that this confession was extorted from him not by a penitent heart, but by 
an overpowering terror (vs. 30). As the Lord had spoken by the hand of Moses. This 
announcement of Moses (vs. 30) was calculated to convince Pharoh, if he had been 
disposed to give heed to it, that he with whom he had to do was the searcher of hearts, 
and could not be deceived by a hypocritical pretence. 

By this act of judgment a moiety of the crop of Egypt was destroyed, while the 
minds of Pharoh and his courtiers were evidently awe-struck by the thunder-storm. 
It is manifest that the Lord is step by step advancing to the universal desolation of 
Egypt. The supernatural character of this storm is demonstrated by its coming at the 
time predicted, ceasing at the intercession of Moses, and confining itself to the land 
of the Egyptians. 

CHAP. X. THE PLAGUES OF (8) LOCUSTS, (9) DARKNESS. 

4. nSii^ locust. This is so called from its numbers ; r. he many. It is sup- 
posed to be the gryllus gregarius, or passage-locust. 

X. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharoh : for I have hardened his 
heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may put these my signs upon him. 2. And 
that thou may est tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, that which I 
wrought in Mizraim, and my signs which i put upon them ; and ye shall know that I 
am the Lord. 3. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharoh, and said unto him. Thus 
saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, How long dost thou refuse to humble thyself 
before me ? Let my people go and serve me. 4. For if thou refuse to let my people 
go, behold, to-morrow will I bring the locust into thy border. 5. And they shall cover 



GQ LOCUSTS AND DARKNESS. 

the face of the land, so that one cannot see the land, and they shall eat the residue of 
that which is escaped, which remained nnto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree 
which groweth for you out of the field : 6, And they shall fill thy houses, and the 
houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all Mizraim ; which neither thy fathers 
nor thy father's fathers have seen since the day that they were upon the ground unto 
this day. And he turned and went out from Pharoh. 

7. And Phayoh's servants said unto him. How long shall this man be a snare unto 
us ? Let the men go and serve the Lord their God : knowest thou not yet that Miz- 
raim is destroyed ? 8. And Moses and Aaron were brought back unto Pharoh ; and 
he said unto them, Go serve the Loed your God : Who are they that go '? 9. And Moses 
said, With our young and with our old will we go, v/ith our sons and with our daughters ; 
with our flocks and with our herds will we go, for we hold a feast unto the Loed. 10. 
And he said unto them. The Lord be so with you, as I will let you and your little ones 
go : look ye that evil is before you. 11. Not so : go now ye men and serve the Lord ; 
for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharoh's presence. § 9. 

12. And the Loed said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the land of Mizraim 
for the locust, and they shall come up on the land of Mizraim, and eat every herb of the 
land, all that the hail hath left. 13. And Moses stretched out his hand over the land 
of Mizraim ; and the Loed sent an east wind upon the land all that day and all the 
night : the morning came, and the east wind brought the locusts. 14. And the locusts 
came up over all the land of Mizraim, and rested in all the border of Mizraim : very 
grievous were they, before them were no such locusts as they, neither after them 
shall be such. 15. And they covered the face of the whole land, and the land was 
darkened ; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which 
the hail had left : and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the 
herbs of the field in all the land of Mizraim. 

16. Then Pharoh hastened to call Moses and Aaron : and he said, I have sinned 
against the Lord your God, and against you. 17. And now forgive, I pray, my sin only 
this once, and entreat the Loed your God ; and let him take away from me this death 
only. 18. And he came out from Pharoh and entreated the Lord. 19. And the Loed 
turned a very strong west wind, and took away the locusts, and cast them into the 
Red Sea : there remained not one locust in all the border of Mizraim. 20. And the 
Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go. ^i 15. 

21. And the Loed said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward the sky, and let 
there be darkness over the land of Mizraim ; and let the darkness be felt. 22. And 
Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky : and there was a thick darkness in all 
the land of Mizraim three days. 23. They saw not one another, neither rose any one 
from his place for three days : and all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 
24. And Pharoh called Moses and said. Go ye, serve the Loed ; onlj^ your flocks and 
your herds shall be stayed : even your little ones may go v/ith you. 25. And Moses 
said, Thou must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and w^e shall 
sacrifice unto the Loed our God. 26. Our cattle, then, also shall go with us, not a 
hoof shall be left behind ; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God : and 
we know not with what we shall serve the Loed until we go thither. 27. And the 
Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, and he w^ould not let them go. 28. And Pharoh said 
unto him. Get thee from me : take heed to thj^self ; see my face no more, for in the 
day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29. And Moses said, Well hast thou spoken ; 
I will see thy face no more. H 16. 

-This chapter completes the record of the third group of plagues. 

1-20. The plague of locusts. Go in unto Pharoh, into his palace in the city, as in the 
second of each series (8 : 1 ; 9 : 1). For I have hardened his heart A mode of treatment cal- 
culated to have a salutary effect on a reasonable mind has produced an opposite effect 
on a proud and unreasonable temper. That I may put these my signs upon him. To put 
here (pi*^) is to set before the view of all for their instruction. In him (S^ip^) 
means in his inmost experience, so as to touch his feelings to the quick (9 : 14). And 
that thou mayest tell These marvels of Egypt are to be a lesson not only for the present, 
but for all future generations, who may hearken to the recollections of their fathers. 



EXODUS X. 7-15. 67- 

or read the books of- Moses. And ye shall know that I am the Lord. The grand scope 
of all these signs was to reveal the Creator in his true character to man. This is the 
lesson of nature, of providence, and of grace, to those who read and understand. 3. 
How long dost thou refuse to humble thyself before me ? Eight signs, one of them instruc- 
tive and seven corrective, had already been given to him. His haughtiness of spirit 
is not subdued ; to humble himself, even before God, he has not yet learned. 4. The 
locust. The descriptions of Joel (1 : 2) and many other eye-witnesses have made us 
familiar with the locust and its desolating progress. The class to which they belong 
is described by Moses in Lev. 11 : 21, 23, and four species, including the one here men- 
tioned fn"^ns)> ^^® pronounced clean and edible. The native place of the locust is 
the south of Asia and the parts of Africa south and west of Egypt. These insects are 
about three or four inches long, have four wings and four feet, the hind legs being 
adapted for springing. They resemble in form the common grasshopper. The locust, 
after leaving the egg, exists in three states— the larva, the pupa, and the perfect 
insect. The larva has no wings, the pupa has only the rudiments of them, and they 
are fully developed only in the perfect insect. Of these three the larva is the most 
voracious. They breed in October, laying each about three hundred eggs, which they 
bury in the ground. They make their appearance in March or April, when the verdure 
is on the ground. Their numbers are immense, and in their flight they are said to 
cover thousands of square miles, and consume every green thing where they alight. 
They are used as food, being either cooked whole or ground into meal. Into thy border. 
They came into Egypt generallj^ from the south, but also from the east. 5. The face 
of the land. The eye (-jiy) of the land is the surface, which looks, as it were, toward 
us. That lohich remaineth unto you from the hail, the wheat and the spelt, the other 
moiety of the crop, and whatsoever fruit was left on the trees. 6. They shall fill thy 
houses (Joel 2 : 9). They consume everything that comes before them, in the house as 
well as in the field. Which neither thy fathers. The miracle consists in the extraordinary 
number, size, and destructiveness of these insects, as well as in their coming and go- 
ing according to the word of Moses. 

7-11. The suggestion of Pharoh's servants. How long shall this manbe a snare ? A pit- 
fall of inevitable destruction to us. The magicians and other courtiers of Pharoh under- 
stand the state of matters better than himself. Let the men go. Let this people depart. 
They feel that they cannot contend with omnipotence. Knowest thou not yet ? The 
sovereign, especially if he be despotic, is often the last to learn the wretchedness of his 
country ; as it may be at the risk of life that his servants venture to hint at so unwel- 
come tidings. Pharoh seems to have been in a great measure unconscious of the ruin 
of Egypt. He now condescends to ask who shall go ; a question that should have 
been proposed at the very first. Moses promptly replies that all must go, as it was a 
feast, a solemn assembly of the whole nation before the Lord. Look ye that evil is 
before you. Pharoh, refusing to let go " the little ones"— a phrase including the young 
of both sexes, and implying the full-grown women- warns them that "evil is before 
them." This may mean either that evil is in store for them, or that evil is in their 
minds. The former is a menace of the effects of his displeasure, if they insisted on 
all going ; the latter a charge of forming a design of leaving the country. The former 
is more in keeping with the expression, "Look ye." The men alone are allowed to 
go, and with this concession they are driven out or ignominiously dismissed. Pharoh 
has become more irritable and violent in his manner. 

12-15. The locusts sent. Tlce Lord raised an east wind. An east wind, in common 



68 LOCUSTS AKD DARKNESS. 

phrase, means any wind from the sun-rising, though it may be a good many points 
north or south. This indicates merely that the present swarm of locusts came not 
from Ethiopia or Lybia, but from Arabia. All that day and all the night. The locust 
appeared in the morning, and therefore may have come from a considerable distance. 
"Before them," or " after them," were no such locusts. This statement applies to 
Egypt, and refers to the extraordinary extent of the present visitation. The land was 
darkened. It is said that the locust swarm, like an opaque cloud, intercepts the light 
of the sun, and leaves the earth in darkness (Plin. Hist. Nat. ii. 29). There re- 
mained not any green thing. What the hail had left, the locusts devoured, and 
the land was left desolate, a waste and a void (i^;-,-,, s^j-^^) destitute alike 
of the vegetation which adorns and furnishes it, and of the cattle which form a 
part of its inhabitants (Gen. 1:2; Jer. 4 : 23). 

16-20. The locusts removed. And Pharoh hastened to call. The awful nature of this 
devastation strikes terror to the heart of Pharoh. His will also has become more rest- 
less and liable to sudden change. I have sinned. This is the second confession of 
sin, and the fourth time he has been led to entreaty. This death only. Death only 
^ seems now to await the Egyptians, as their crop has been destroyed and their cattle 
have been greatly diminished. A very strong west wind. A moderately blowing east 
wind carried the locusts in safety over the Eed Sea into Egypt. A storm or hurricane 
sweeps them out of the country and precipitates them into the waters. This is the 
usual history of these insects. A wind of the sea, that is the Mediterranean, taken as 
a whole, though due west of Palestine, would be north-west of the Delta, especially the 
eastern part of it, and therefore exactly fitted to carry the locusts to the Ked Sea. 
And the Lord hardened PharoKs heart. The very long-suffering of the Lord only adds 
to the infatuation of his ingrate heart. 

21-29. The plague of darkness. This is the third of this series, and, as usual, no 
announcement of it is made to Pharoh. Let the darkness he felt ; a strong figure to de- 
scribe the intensity of this darkness. Similar is " a thick darkness," literallj'^ a dark- 
ness of gloom. Three days. The only natural phenomenon resembling this darkness 
is the Simoom or Chamsin, which is a hot wind rising about the vernal equinox, and 
blowing for about three days. It rises often to a storm, imparts a yellow dimness to 
the air, and raises such a quantity of dust as to have a stifling effect and produce a 
sombre gloom. During these days the inhabitants are wont to descend to the lowest 
rooms of their houses or hide themselves in pits and caverns in order to avoid the 
inconvenience and danger that attend this tempest. This darkness differs, however, 
from the Simoom in these essential points : that it is intense in its degree, that it 
falls upon the land at the will of Moses, and that it does not extend to the region 
where the Israelites dwelt. After all the disasters that had just befallen the land, 
we may imagine the dismay and terror that total darkness would produce in the minds 
of the Egyptians. It was equivalent to a universal blindness, which would unfit the 
nation for making any effort to attend to the business of life or provide for its contin- 
uance. In case of its perpetuation they could only await in despair the slow ap- 
proach of death by starvation. Pharoh quails before the appalling darkness. He 
yields another point. The women and children may go with the men, but not the flocks 
and the herds. Moses, however, cannot go to hold a national festival unto the Lord 
without sacrifices. Not a hoof of their cattle must be left behind. Pharoh is again 
exasperated. His proud heart becomes hard as the nether millstone. A reckless 
madness takes possession of him. He forbids Moses to appear before him again on pain 



EXODUS XI. 1-3. 69 

of death. There is something ominous in the reply of Moses. " Well hast thou 
spoken ; I will see thy face no more." He means, as we shall see, more than is here 
expressed. 

There is an awful significance in this plague of darkness. The sun was a leadiAg 
object of adoration among the Egyptians under the name of Osiris. The very name 
Pharoh means not only the king, but also the sun, and characterizes the king himself 
as the representative of the sun, and entitled in some sort to divine honors. But now 
the very light of the sun has disappeared, and primeval chaos seems to have returned. 
Thus all the forms of Egyptian will-worship have been covered with shame and con- 
fusion in those nine plagues. 

Allowing a week for each of the two previous plagues, and four days for this one, 
we are brought to the 21st of March, and perhaps to the eve of that night on which 
the paschal lamb was eaten and the first-born of Egypt were slain. The narrative 
becomes now excited and abrupt as the great crisis approaches. 



VIII. THE TENTH PLAGUE.— THE PASSOVER. —Ex. 11, 12. 

CHAP. XI. — DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN THREATENED. 

XI. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet one plague will I bring upon Pharoh 
and upon Mizraim ; afterward he will let you go hence : when he shall let you go alto- 
gether, he shall actually thrust you out hence. 2. Speak now in the ears of the peo- 
ple ; and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, 
jewels of silver and jewels of gold. 3. And the Loed gave the people favor in the eyes 
of Mizraim : moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Mizraim in the 
eyes of Pharoh's servants, and in the eyes of the people. 

4. And Moses said. Thus saith the Loed, About midnight will I come out into the 
midst of Mizraim. 5. And all the first-born in the land of Mizraim shall die, from the 
first-born of Pharoh that sitteth upon his throne unto the first-born of the maid-ser- 
vant that is behind the mill ; and all the first-born of beasts. 6. And there shall be 
a great cry in all the land of Mizraim, the like of which has not been, and the like 
shall not again be. 7. And against any of the sons of Israel shall not a dog move hi^ 
tongue, from man to beast ; that ye may know that the Loed doth sever between 
Mizraim and Israel. 8. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me and bow 
down to me, saying. Go out, thou and all the people that follow thee ; and after that 
I will go out. And he went out from Pharoh in great wrath. §11- 

9. So the Loed said unto Moses, Pharoh shall not hearken unto you, that my won- 
ders may be multiplied in the land of Mizraim. 10. And Moses and Aaron did all 
these wonders before Pharoh : and the Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, and he did not 
let the sons of Israel go out of his land. § 12. 

The section now before us recounts the tenth and last stroke inflicted on Pharoh 
and his people, and, in essential connection therewith, the institution of the Pass- 
over. In the eleventh chapter the announcement of the slaying of the first-born is 
made, as the last words of Moses to Pharoh. 

1-3. There was in the words of Moses at the close of the last chapter a foreboding 
of something not explicitly stated. This is a plain indication that another line of 
events was going on concurrently with that which the historian was engaged in nar- 
rating. While the long train of interviews and transactions with Pharoh has been 
passing, we are not to suppose that the communication of Moses with his own kindred 



70 DEATH OF THE FIRST-BOKK THREATENED. 

and people, opened on his return from Midian (4 : 29-31 ; 6 : 1-9), was entirely sus- 
pended. On the other hand we are to presume that the whole of the instructions 
given to Moses (3 : 6-22), together with the signs of his divine authority (4 : 1-9), were 
in due time, and with full explanations, laid before the people ; that when the first 
barbarities of Pharoh were relaxed, these messages from heaven received a respectful 
hearing, and that when the hand of the Lord was repeatedly displayed in inflicting 
chastisements on the Egyptians, from which they themselves were exempted, they 
began gradually to take courage, to trust in the Lord, and make the necessary prep- 
arations for their departure. Indications of this concurrent process and result now 
begin to appear in the narrative. We have only to call to mind the law of Hebrew 
narrative, that when one line of events is brought to a suitable resting-place, the author 
is at liberty to go back and take up another line which is necessary to the full elucida- 
tion of his theme. The words of final parting between Moses and Pharoh, though not 
perhaps the absolute close of the conversation between them, form a striking pause, 
whether we regard them from a logical or a rhetorical point of view. Accordingly, 
in the paragraph now before us, we revert to a point of time before the interview with 
Pharoh just recorded, and after the plague of darkness. This we infer from the 
intimation in the last words of Moses of something that was in his memory more than 
what is expressed. This allusion could only be to the communication recorded in the 
present paragraph ; which is therefore now introduced to explain what was hinted at 
in the words of Moses already given, and in the remaining part of his last address to 
Pharoh (vs. 4-8). 

1. Yet one plague. This places the coming judgment in the same class with th^ 
nine that had preceded it, though it differs form them in the mode of its infliction, 
and transcends them all in the wound it gave to the heart of the nation. Altogether, 
men, women, and children, with all their cattle and movable property, so far as it 
was convenient or necessary for them to remove it. Actually thrust you out, not merely 
permit, but constrain you to depart. 2. In the ears of the people. We are evidently got 
into a new line of narrative. This is part of the intercourse of Moses with the people. 
And let them ask (3 : 21, 22). It is now plain that asking, not borrowing, is here in- 
tended, seeing that this step is to be taken when Pharoh was on the point of driving 
them out of the country, never to return. There could be no pretence of a return 
being made in such circumstances. Pharoh indeed repented of this course, and 
returned, as he was wont, to his old policy. But this does not alter the character of 
Tiis present procedure. 3. The Lord gave the people favor. The people of Egypt saw the 
past scenes of tyranny, obstinacj'-, and prevarication on the part of Pharoh, of suffer- 
ing on the part of the Israelites and themselves, and of forbearance and yet decision 
in the judicial proceedings of God in a very different light from that in which they 
were regarded by their sovereign. Many of them would sympathize v/ith the perse- 
cuted serfs ; many would stand in awe of the reiterated strokes of the divine judg- 
ment ; and all would feel the calamities that befell the nation far more acutely than 
Pharoh. Accordingly, when the warning was given to bring in the cattle and servants, 
lest they should be destroyed by the hail, not a few were found with so much faith in 
the word of the Lord as to attend to it, and save their property. And on a subsequent 
occasion the very courtiers ventured to tender the advice to Pharoh that he should 
save his country from utter destruction by dismissing the chosen people. Thus, in 
the unsearchable wisdom of God, the same train of events that was hardening the 
heart of Pharoh, and reviving the faith and courage of his own people, was inclining 



EXODUS XI. 4-8. 71 

the Egyptians to commiserate tlie suffering people, and help them to make provision 
for their journey. Moreover the man Moses. The modesty of the writer is plain in the 
unadorned simplicity of the epithet, " the man," not the minister of God, or the leader 
and deliverer of the nation, but "the man Moses." Was very great. After what had 
occurred, it could not be otherwise. The man who had foiled the magicians of the 
court, again and again received the submission of the sovereign, and proved himself 
to be the messenger of heaven by a succession of the most conspicuous miracles, could 
not but be very great in the eyes of the Egyptians. And the statement of this fact 
does not derogate from his claim to modesty, but only renders a just tribute of praise 
to him whose servant he was. We have no doubt also that the moderation, good 
temper, and unaffected patriotism with which he discharged his duty, commanded the 
respect and esteem of Pharoh's servants and people. We shall find that the death of 
the first-born created such alarm for their personal safety that they were ready to sac- 
rifice any amount of personal property to get rid of a people whose detention had 
brought such unparalleled calamities on their country. 

4-8. We are now come up again to the point at which we had arrived, at the close 
of the previous chapter, and the speech of Moses is continued. About midnight. 
This note of time points naturally, though it does not absolutely bind us, to the night 
following the day on which this was spoken. We conceive, therefore, that in point 
of fact this was the fourteenth Nisan, or the day before the full moon immediately 
after the vernal equinox. At all events, there is nothing in the narrative to oppose, 
and something to favor this view. Will I come out. God is said to come out when he 
proceeds to execute the purposes of his will in any part of his creation, which cannot 
be regarded as his proper and special residence. All the first-born. The first-born is 
the hope and strength of the house, its representative, and the heir of its privileges. 
A double portion falls to his lot, and the patriarchal and sacerdotal functions origi- 
nally belonged to him. To slay the first-born, then, is the deadliest blow the household 
can receive. Of Pharoh that sitteth on the throne. The pride of the haughty monarch 
will now be brought low. The anguish will even be more acute, if the wailing be not 
more loud, in the palace of the king than in the cottage of the serf. The maid-servant 
that is behind the mill, the hand-mill, which was invariably wrought by females, and 
generally by slaves (12 : 29). It consisted of two stones, the nether fixed, and the 
upper movable, with a hole in the centre to admit the grain, and an upright wooden 
handle, by which it was turned. The lower was convex, and the upper concave, so 
that the meal came out at the edge, and was received on a cloth. The first-born cf 
beasts. As the cattle of the Israelites were to have been detained, the cattle also of 
the Egyptians are to suffer. And if there be any first-born among the animals to 
which the Egj'^ptians pay divine honors, they also will perish. A great cry. Such a 
wail could have no parallel, unless all the first-born of a nation were to perish again 
in one night. A dog move his tongue, put his tongue in such a form and motion as to 
snarl, growl, or bark. This is a proverbial expression, to denote security from even 
the threat of danger. That ye may know. This is a lesson to Pharoh and his court, 
which is now to be repeated for the seventh time. Mizraim represents the world for 
the time being, and Israel the church. Come down to me from the high places of the 
court and the royal city. Boio down to me, humble themselves so far as to do obeisance 
to me. And after that I will go out. When every proud heart will be abased, and all 
opposition will be broken down, then will I depart. Pharoh had threatened the Lord's 
servant with death, and now the death of all the first-born of Egypt is announced to 



72 THE PASSOVER. 

its monarch. In great wrath. Words of deadly fend had passed between them. 
Pharoh had threatened Moses with death, simply because he had demanded that the 
cattle of the Israelites should go with them. With what mingled alarm and indigna- 
tion would he listen to this last awful menace of heaven's minister. We may infer, 
therefore, that there was high wrath on both sides at parting. 

9, 10. These two verses are a recapitulation of all that has been related after the in- 
troductory paragraph in the seventh chapter, especially verse 3. This verse is the 
prediction ; the intervening narrative sets forth the details, and the two verses now 
before us are the logical conclusion or summing up of the whole. Hence we render 
the conjunctive particle at the beginning, by the word so, as is occasionally done in 
the English version. This inferential summary could not come in before the speech 
of Moses, threatening the death of the first-born, as this occurs at the closing inter- 
view between him and Pharoh, and presents the latter with the last occasion for 
rejecting the demands of the Lord. And it could not come in after death of the 

first-born, because then Pharoh at length yielded, whereas these verses record his 
long-continued resistance. They form, therefore, the methodical recapitulation of the 
opposition of Pharoh foretold by the Lord, when that opposition has come to its last 
efforts. " Pharoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in 
the land of Mizraim," for the perpetual instruction of mankind in certain sublime and 
necessary principles of theological truth. And so it has accordngly hapjDened. 



CHAP. XII. — THE PASSOVER. DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN. 

2. li^'in new 1710071, day of the new moon, month ; r. le new f-]-^i month from 
^"yi moon. 

3. ,-|"iy assembly ; r. constitute. A definitely constituted body of men, varying 
in extent from ten heads of houses to the whole of the men of Israel who are 
entitled to vote in a regular convention of the people. These were most prob- 
ably all the males above twenty years of age. Between the full assembly and 
that of the heads of houses was probably the representative convention, consist- 
ing of the princes of tribes, chiefs of families, elders, and officers, each of which 
had its well-known province and function. It appears, however, that the term 
" elders" was often employed to denote the whole of these classes (vs. 12). 
7,-ip congregation ; r. gather together. This denotes the whole community of Israel, 
including young and old, male and female. It is also used to express any body 
of people collected together, without reference to definite organization or regular 
appointment. "iyj3 appointed time or place of meeting, appointed meeting. This 
is the term constantly used in the phrase "s^^ "TIX ^^^^ ^f '^^^tinff, the tent at the 
door of which all sacred and civil meetings were appointed to be held in the 
wilderness. 

11. nCO- Aram. 5><nCD ^^^;t<^. i^^ passover ; r. pass over. (1.) The lamb, on 
account of whose blood, sprinkled on the lintel and the posts, the Lord passed 
over the Israelites (vs. 13), (2.) The solemnity of which this lamb was the sac- 
rifice (Lev. 23 : 5). (3.) The seven days' festival, usually called the feast of 
unleavened bread, including the proper passover or festival of the preceding 



EXODUS XII. 73 

evening (Deut. 16 : 1). (4.) The sacrifices belonging to the feast of unleavened 
bread (Deut. 16 : 3 ; 2 Chron. 35 : 1, 7). 

24. pp, statute^ edict, ordinance, rate. (vs. 14) fipii ; r. engrave. 

40. C^HiJlOS ^ZlW^ "lIi^^?) '^^^ sojourned in Mizraim. So the Targum of Onkelos 
may also be rendered. But the Sept. has fjv Trap6K7]oav iv yij AtyvTrw, which they 
sojourned in Egpyt. Against this rendering are the following considerations. (1.) 
-^^■j^ is usually followed by the personal pronoun after the governing word when 
it stands for an oblique case, but here it is not. (2.) n^'i is generally intransi- 
tive, taking some preposition before the place of abiding, and here it has CinHD^ 
and therefore does not admit "y^^. (3.) When it has a direct object, that 
object is the place of abode, which it could not be here. (4.) n^'^j^^ after n^'t 
signifies a seat (Ezek. 28 : 2), which it cannot do here. (5.) The cognate object- 
ive after 'y^i would be p^lTW ^^ TQ^l) leather than n^'1"]^. For these reasons 
we adhere to the former rendering. 

49. ni'lFl doctrine, law, principle ; r. cast, hiph. teach. 

XII. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Mizraim, saying, 
2. This month shall be unto you the chief of months : it shall be first to you of the 
months of the year. 3. Speak ye unto all the assembly of Israel, saying, In the tenth 
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to father's 
houses, a lamb for the house. 4. And if the house be too little for the lamb, let him 
and his neighbor next unto his house take it, according to the number of souls ; 
every man according to his eating ye shall count for the lamb. 5. Your lamb shall 
be without blemish, a male of the first year ; from the sheep or from the goats ye shall 
take it. 6. And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month ; and the 
whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it between the evenings. 7. 
And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two posts and on the lintel, upon 
the houses in which they shall eac it. 8. And they shall eat the flesh on this night ; 
roast with fire and with unleavened bread, on bitter herbs shall ye eat it. 9. Ye 
shall not eat of it raw, or sodden at all with water ; but roast with fire, its head with its 
legs and its inwards. 10. And ye shall not leave of it until the morning, and that 
which is left of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11. And thus shall ye 
eat of it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your stafi in your 
hand : and ye shall eat it in haste, it is the Lord's passover. 

12. And I will pass through the land of Mizraim this night, and will smite all the 
first-born in the land of Mizraim, from man to beast, and on all the gods of Mizraim 
I will execute judgments ; I am the Lord. 13. And the blood shall be to you for a 
token upon the houses where ye are ; and I will look upon the blood and pass over 
you : and there shall be no stroke of destruction on you when I smite the land of 
Mizraim. 14. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a 
feast to the Lord ; in your generations ye shall keep it as an ordinance for ever. 

15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread ; even the first day ye shall put away 
leaven out of your houses : for whosoever eateth leavened bread, that soul shall be 
cut off from Israel from the first day until the seventh day. 16. And in the first day 
shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation to you : no 
work shall be done in them : only that Avhich every soul must eat, that alone may be 
done of you. 17. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread ; for in this self- 
same day I shall have brought your hosts OTit of the land of Mizraim : and ye shall 
observe this day in your generations as an ordinance for ever. 18. In the first month 
on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the 
one-and-twentieth day of the month at even. 19. Seven days leaven shall not be 
found in your houses ; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall 
be cut off from the assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. 
20. Nothing leavened shall ye eat ; in all your dwellings ye shall eat unleavened 
bread. H 16. 



74 THE PASSOVER. 

21. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, Draw out and 
take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22. And ye shall 
take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood which is in the bason, and strike the 
lintel and the two posts with the blood that is in the bason : and none of you shall 
come out from the door of his house until the morning. 23. And the Lord will pass 
through to smite Mizraim, and shall see the blood upon the lintel, and on the two 
posts : and the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to go 
into your houses to smite you. 24. And ye shall observe this thing, for an ordinance 
to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25. And it shall come to pass, when you go into the 
land which the Lord will give you as he hath spoken, that ye shall keep this service. 
26. And it shall come to pass when your sons shall say unto you. What mean ye by 
this service ? 27, Then ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Loed's passover, who 
passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Mizraim, when he smote Mizraim and 
delivered our houses. And the people bent the head and worshipped. 28. And 
the sons of Israel went and did so ; as the Lobd commanded Moses and Aaron, so did 
they. § 13. 

29. And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord smote all the first-born in the 
land of Mizraim, from the first-born of Pharoh that sat on the throne unto the first- 
born of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of cattle. 30. And 
Pharoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all Mizraim ; and there was a 
great cry in Mizraim ; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31. 
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Eise up, go forth from among 
my people, both ye and the sons of Israel : and go, serve the Lord, as ye have 
spoken. 32. Take your flocks also and your herds, as ye have sjooken, and go ; and 
bless me also. 33. And Mizraim urged the people to send them out of the land in 
haste ; for they said. We shall be all dead. 34. And the people took up their dough 
before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their garments 
upon their shoulders. 35. And the sons of Israel did according to the word of 
Moses ; and they asked of Mizraim jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and garments. 
36. And the Loed gave the people favor in the eyes of Mizraim and they gave them ; 
and they spoiled Mizraim. If 17. 

37. And the sons of Israel journeyed from Eameses to Sukkoth about six hundred 
thousand foot, the men apart from the little ones. 38. And a mixed multitude also 
went up with them, and flocks and herds, even very much cattle. 39. And they baked 
the dough which they brought out of Mizraim into unleavened cakes, for it was not 
leavened : because they were thrust out of Mizraim and could not tarry, and they had 
not made for themselves any provision. 40. And the sojourning of the sons of Israel, 
who sojourned in Mizraim, was thirty and four hundred years. 41. And it was after 
the end of thirty and four hundred years, and it was on the self-same day that all the 
hosts of the Loed came out from the land of Mizraim. 42. It is a night of observance 
unto the Loed for bringing them out from the land of Mizraim ; such is this night of 
the Loed to be observed hj all the sons of Israel in their generations. IT 18. 

43. And the Loed said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover, 
no alien shall eat thereof. 44. And every man's servant that is bought with money, 
when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45. A sojourner and a 
hireling shall not eat thereof. 46. In one house shall it be eaten : thou shalt not 
bring aught of the flesh out of the house abroad, and a bone thereof ye shall not break. 
47. All the assembly of Israel shall keep it. 48. And when a stranger sojourneth 
with thee and will keep the passover to the Loed, let all his males be circumcised, and 
then let him come near to keep it, and he shall be as one born in the land : and no 
uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49. One law shall be to the home-born and 
to the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50. Thus did all the sons of Israel : as 
the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. § 14. 

51. And it came to pass in the self-same day that the Loed brought the sons of Is- 
rael out of the land of Mizraim by their hosts. H 19. 

This chapter contains the divine order for the institution of the passover, the di- 
rections given by Moses to the people and their compliance with them, the death of 
the first-born in Egypt, and the dismissal of the enslaved people, the date of their 
departure, and the determination of the parties who are admissible to the passover. 



1 



EXODUS XII. 1-3. 75 

1-20. The divine ordinance concerning the passover. The parting interview be- 
tween Moses and Pharoh may have taken place on the 14th Nisan. In the present 
chapter a new line of events is taken up. It belongs to the intercourse, not of Moses 
and Pharoh, but of Moses and the people. "We therefore go back to the beginning of 
Nisan, which we have supposed to be about the 8th of March at the earliest. At this 
time it may be presumed the plague of hail had been removed, and those of the lo- 
custs and the darkness had yet to come on. 

1. In the land of Mizraim. This note of place would have been unnecessary if the 
writer had not passed from Egypt into the wilderness since the preceding chapter was 
indited. It is, therefore, an intimation that this portion of the narrative was not 
committed to writing till after the exodus had taken place. It thus affords an inci- 
dental presumption that the narrative was com.posed by an eye-witness. This month. 
The term here employed denotes the new moon, and hence the day of the new moon, 
or first day of the month, and lastly the month as defined in its commencement by 
the new moon. It appears to denote here the beginning of the month. The chief of 
months ; the most important among the months on account of the great event which 
was about to take place in it. It shall he first. Israel was henceforth to have a sacred 
year beginning with this month, which was the seventh of the old civil or common 
year (see on Gen. 2:6; 7 : 11). From this accordingly the months are henceforth 
counted, so that the old first month becomes the seventh of the sacred year, though 
its first day is still distinguished as a festival by the blowing of trumpets and certain 
special sacrifices (Lev. 23 : 23-25 ; Num. 29 : 1-6). 

3. All the assembly. Three words are with more or less constancy rendered congre- 
gation in our English version, ,"i"]y, 7np» ^^*^1l?D- ^^ shall, by way of distinction, 
translate them respectively by the words assembly, congregation, and meeting, which 
are already used without exact discrimination in our present version. By assembly 
or convention we understand a body of men organized for common counsel or action. 
By congregation or community we understand a more general body or gathering of 
men, women, and children, having common privileges, civil and sacred, but not all 
called upon or entitled to vote or act in public affairs. In the former term, regular 
organization is the prominent characteristic ; in the latter the custom of assembling 
together. The commonwealth of Israel may be designated by either, according to the 
different way in which it may be viewed. It is obviously regarded in our text as a 
unity, having its natural centre in Jacob and its spiritual centre in Israel, and in him 
of whom Israel was the type. By meeting or appointment is to be understood a 
stated m.eeting or gathering for a great solemn occasion (39 : 42, 43). Li the tenth day 
of this month. From the third to the tenth of Nisan the plague of locusts ran its 
course. The days intervening between the tenth and the fourteenth were probably 
the days of darkness. This was perhaps the proximate reason for choosing the lamb 
on the tenth. At the same time ten is the symbol of completeness ; and the tenth 
day completes the third of the month, as the night of (that is, before) the fifteenth 
completes the half of the month. The day of atonement was in like manner on the 
tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23 : 27). Every man a lamb, a young animal of 
the sheep or of the goats (vs. 5 ; 2 Chron. 35 : 7), though in latter times it came to be 
invariably the young of a sheep. According to father's houses, or smaller families. The 
family organization was very exact among the Israelites. Under the twelve tribes 
were the clans or families (nin9ti^/0) ' ^^<^6i' these the father's houses (ni-ij^ n''3) 
or smaller families, and under these the several distinct households of which they 



76 THE PASSOVER INSTITUTED. 

consisted. A lamlyfor the house. This is the single household, which forms the social 
unit in the subdivisions of Israel. 4. And if the house he too little for the lamh. The 
Jewish tradition was that a man ate the size of an olive of the paschal lamb, in which 
case a whole lamb would be sufficient for a very large household. In the Targum 
Jonathan, ten is given as the least number for a paschal company. Josephus assigns 
ten as the least number and twenty as not uncommon (Wars of the Jews, vi. 9, 3). 
The Mishna says, " A paschal sacrifice may not be slaughtered for a single individual 
only. It may not be slaughtered even for a party of a hundred individuals, if each of 
them cannot eat thereof the minimum quantity of the size of an olive." This im- 
plies that a hundred might partake of the one lamb. At the last supper of our Lord 
and his disciples, thirteen full-grown men were present. This would give an average 
of about twenty persons, if women and children were included. 

5. Without blemish. The lamb is the substitute, at least in type, of the first-born, 
and is therefore to be perfect of its kind. A male of the first year. The male ranks 
before the female, and is therefore employed to figure a sufficient sacrifice. The phrase 
" son of a year" means of any age from a month to a full year (Gen. 7 : 6, 11). 

Until the fourteenth day. If, as we presume, the three days of darkness came between 
the tenth and the fourteenth, though the Israelites had light, as in ordinary days, it 
was desirable that the lamb should be set apart on the tenth day, that there might be 
nothing to do on the fourteenth day but prepare it for sacrifice. During those awful 
days, when darkness, the symbol of chaos, brooded over Egypt, the Israelites had the 
lamb as the sign and pledge of the divine promise that this darkness would spread no 
farther, but would at length give way to a new period of light and life and hope. And 
doubtless they would have occasion, on contemplating this devoted victim, to con- 
verse with one another concerning the great deliverance which was before them (see 
Fagius in Grit. Sac). But instruction and edification were not limited to those three 
days. They pervade all time, but especially those great occasions on which God man- 
ifests his power in the works of justice and mercy. Hence every event in this great 
deliverance has its definite lesson to all parties concerned, if they will but learn it. 
The whole congregation of the assembly of Israel. A congregation is any gathering or 
number of people that may be gathered. The congregation of an assembly is the 
company of those who belong to an organized or orderly community, having a com- 
mon head, a representative assembly, and a law of action. The word Israel defines 
the nation, and the word all embraces every member of it. Not to partake of the 
passover on this occasion was to be excommunicated, unless there was some invinci- 
ble hinderance. The whole congregation are here priests unto God. Shall kill it, as a 
typical substitute for the first-born, a symbol of propitiation by the death of another. 
Betvjeen the evenings. The lamb seems to have been slain before sunset and eaten after 
(see on Gen. 1 : 4), 

7. Put it on the two posts and on the lintel. By the door the destroyer enters to slay 
the first-born. Hence the blood that indicates faith and represents atonement is 
sprinkled on the fixed boundaries of the doorway, except the threshold, on which the 
foot treads. It is not sprinkled on the door-leaf itself, which may have been in many 
cases altogether wanting, and was always less permanent than the lintel and posts in 
the booths and other slight habitations of a pastoral people (vs. 8, 9). And they shall 
eat. As the sacrificing of the paschal lamb is a symbol of the redemption, by which 
the death-penalty due by one is paid by another, so the eating of it is a figure of the 
participation of pardon, acceptance, and full blessedness consequent upon the atone- 



EXODUS XEI. 10. 77 

ment being made and the law being satisfied. Boast idihfire ; not raw, that is, unfit for 
use, and therefore for representing spiritual enjoyment ; nor sodden with water, de- 
prived of any portion of its savor, and thus not so well adapted to express complete 
happiness ; but roast with fire, submitted to the direct influence of fire, retaining the 
integrity of its strength and flavor, consequently shadowing forth not only the com- 
pleteness of the sacrifice, but also the perfection of the salvation thereby obtained. 
Unleavened bread. Bread is the staff of life (Lev. 26 : 26). Leaven is a mass of sour 
doiigh in which decomposition has set in, and is therefore the symbol of corruption 
(1 Cor. 5 : 8). Hence unleavened bread is the emblem of purity and life. 07i Miter 
lierhs. These appear to form the basis of the repast, on which the other materials rest. 
In the Mishna five different kinds of bitter herbs are mentioned, among which are 
lettuce and endive. The bitter herbs convey no obscure allusion to the bitterness of 
Egyptian bondage, and of the bondage of sin in general. Its head, loith its legs and its 
inwards. It is plain that it was to be roasted whole, without breaking or severing any 
of the bones. This involved the necessity of its being roasted on a spit before the 
fire, as the people could not be generally provided with vessels large enough to con- 
tain it whole. And it was strikingly expressive of the unity of the sacrifice— of the 
salvation which it prefigured, and of the people who partook of it (Ps. 34 : 20 ; 1 Cor. 
5:7; 10:17). 

10. Ye shall not leave of it until the morning. It was, if possible, to be entirely con- 
sumed. But if any portion was left, it was to be burnt with fire. This was the rule for 
all sacrificial meals, except the vow or voluntary offering (Lev. 7 : 15-17). This seems 
to indicate that they were sacred to the one purpose, and therefore not to be applied 
to any profane or further use. The atonement and the salvation following are to be 
aU-sufficient, yet not more than sufficient. And thus shall ye eat it, imth your loins 
girded, as those who are equipped for expeditious travelling ; your shoes on your feet, 
as those who are prepared for rough and untrodden paths ; your staff in your hand, as 
a protection and a support on the journey ; in haste, as those who do not know the 
moment when they must set out. Here we have a reality which is a true type of the 
readiness with which the redeemed should wait for other and higher journeys than 
that which was now before the Israelites. It is the Lord's passover. The festival now 
described is a feast of passing over in sparing mercy, instituted by the Lord himself, 
and to be observed by all his people in obedience to his word. As is usual with the 
first observance of any institution, there are many incidental circumstances that do 
not occur in the subsequent observance of it. The essential parts of this solemnity 
are the lamb, the time of sacrificing and eating it, the unleavened bread and bitter 
herbs, the seven days' feast of unleavened bread. The keeping up from the tenth day 
was aftei-vvard omitted ; the domestic observance by the men, women, and children 
was succeeded by the celebration at the place which the Lord had chosen (Deut. 
16 : 6) by the men only or chiefly ; the lamb was slain by the house father or the 
priest ; the blood was sprinkled, not on the lintel and posts of the house, but appar- 
ently on the altar (2 Chron. 30 : 16 ; 35 : 11) ; and the attire and attitude of haste and 
readiness for travelling were afterward omitted. 

(1.) Of the three things essential to the salvation of a fallen creature, two are repre- 
sented by circumcision and the passover— regeneration and redemption. (2. ) Circum- 
cision denotes the new birth, without indicating any of its fruits. The passover, like 
all sacrificial feasts, points out not only the act, but the effect . of redemption. The 
slaying of the lamb is the act, being the giving up of the life of one for another ; the 



78 THE PASSOVER INSTITUTED. 

eating of the sacrifice is the effect, being the reception of the rights and enjoyments 
recovered on its death. (3. ) Circumcision, signifying that which is inward, applies to 
each individual apart, and is therefore a solitary ordinance ; the passover, standing 
for that which is outward, is equally adapted to all who are circumcised, and is there- 
fore a social ordinance, exhibiting the communion of saints. Hence the former began 
suitably with Abraham, when he was alone, before he became the father of the faith- 
ful ; the latter appropriately with Israel, after he had become a nation. (4.) In cir- 
cumcision, which shadows forth the new birth, the recipient is passive ; in the pass- 
over, which implies the voluntary partaking of the sacrifice, the recipient is active. 
(5.) Circumcision, symbolizing the new birth, is not to be repeated ; the passover, as 
a sacrifice, represents that sacrifice which is to be offered once for all, but as a feast, 
it sets forth the constant fare by which the soul is sustained, and is therefore repeated 
from year to year. (6.) Circumcision, the symbol of the new nature, was not preceded 
by any other sign of like import. The passover, being a kind of sacrifice, was pre- 
ceded by the sacrifices of Habel, Noah, Abraham, and other patriarchs, all prefiguring 
that great redeeming sacrifice which was to be offered in the fulness of time. (7.) 
Circumcision was to continue as long as the visible church was limited to the natural 
or adopted descendants of Israel ; the passover was to be observed until the true 
Lamb of God should come, of which it was only the type. (8.) Eegeneration and 
redemption are necessary to the salvation of man from the date of the fall to that of 
the resurrection, and therefore belonged to the experience of the saints before these 
symbols were instituted. "VVe have seen that the symbol of redemption varied accord- 
ing to the varying aspects which its historical progress presented. The joassover an- 
sv/ers to a new iDhase of redemption not within the experience of the patriarchs. This 
leads us to expect that other symbols may be substituted for those of the law of Moses, 
when the realities for which they stand reach a new stage of development. (9.) The 
event w^hich gave occasion to the institution of the passover was a temporal redemp- 
tion, and therefore itself but a type and foretaste of that eternal redemption which 
transcends all its temporal forms as far as the bondage of inward guilt transcends that 
of outward force. This brings before us the vast import and grandeur of the present 
turning-point in the history of God's people, in regard not only to what it is in itself, 
but to what it prefigures in the history of salvation. (10.) The passover is an advance 
on all preceding sacrifices ; as it signalizes the eating of the sacrifice, and therefore 
the enjoyment of the benefits of redemption, the rest, the land of rest, the better land ; 
it is a periodical festival, and thereby represents the perpetuity of the heavenly sus- 
tenance ; and it is commemorative of a great typical deliverance. 

12-15. The immediate benefit realized by those who keep this ordinance. I xoUl 
pass through. The Lord himself, without the intervention of Moses and Aaron, is to 
execute this awful judgment. This night The night after the 14th of Nisam, the pre- 
vious transactions of which have just been described. All the first-born, from man to 
least. The first-born is the beginning and the hope of the family (Gen. 49 : 3). To 
smite the first-born is to begin the annihilation of the race. The cattle came also un- 
der this judgment. All the gods of Mizraim. The bull, the goat, the ram, and other 
animals were deified by the Egyptians. The king was also regarded as an impersona- 
tion of the sun-god. The extinction of all these creature gods will be menaced, as 
well as in part executed, by the death of their first-born. I am the Lord, the maker, 
and therefore the absolute disposer, of all things : who speaks, and it is done. The 
Lord is emphatically the performer, who gives effect to his word, whether of threaten- 



EXODUS XII. 15-20. 79 

ing or of promise. The blood shall be to you for a token, a token of redemption, of ac- 
ceptance, and safety. And pass over you. Here is the origin of the term passover. 
I will pass over you, for whom another has, by a type, shed his blood, and who are 
therefore freed from the penalty of the law. For a memorial. At this time every year 
3'ou will commemorate with thankfulness your present and perpetual deliverance. 
Keep it a feast, a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving for freedom and prosperity, to be 
celebrated according to the general rules laid down by the Lord. An ordinance forever, 
a perpetual ordinance, lasting in its form as long as Israel is the peculiar people ; in 
its principle as long as the state of redemption which it celebrates, and therefore ab- 
solutely for ever. 

15-20. The institution of the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days ; a sacred num- 
ber of days, in token of entire and perpetual consecration to God. Eat unleavened 
bread (vs. 8). Unleavened bread is the symbol of a holy fare. To eat unleavened 
bread is the symbol of a holy life, becoming those who have exercised faith in God, the 
blessed fruit of a new nature. After redemption accepted comes obedience rendered. 
Even the first day of the seven. As this day commenced at the sunset of the llth of 
Nisan, the removal of the leaven must have been effected on that day. Put away leaven 
out of your houses. This denotes the avoidance of all contact with sin, and of all temp- 
tation to it. That soul shall be cut off from Israel. This is excommunication or exclu- 
sion from the visible community of God's people. It involved the loss of all the priv- 
ileges of the chosen people. It was in certain cases accompanied with the penalty of 
death, but not in others. We cannot suppose that an uncircumcised infant was on 
that account to be put to death, as the fault was in the parent (Gen. 17 : 14). It is a 
type of eternal separation from the family of heaven. From the first day until the seventh 
day. This is placed last to intimate that the excommunication is to take place when- 
ever the offence has been once committed during these seven days, and not to be de- 
layed till the expiration of the festival. 

16. In the first day, the 15th of Nisan. A holy convocation. The convocation of 
holiness (ti^1p""K~lpD) ^^^ ^^ assembly for religious purposes, in which the people of 
a neighborhood worshipped God by praise and prayer, and it may be, even from an 
early period, heard portions of the written word read and expounded, and applied to 
the regulation of life. This convocation was the origin of the synagogue, a term 
which originally denoted the assembly, and not the place of assembly. They were 
doubtless at first held in the open air, in the place where it was customary for the 
people of the district to assemble. This was probably a natural green area set apart 
for civil and sacred meetings, like the fair green or square of a country town. The 
days on which holy convocations were held were Sabbaths ; no uoork shall be done in 
them except the works of necessity. Only that which every soul must eat. We learn from 
Lev. 23 and Num. 28, 29, that the weekly Sabbaths, the first and seventh days of the 
feast of unleavened bread, the day of pentecost, the first day of the seventh month, 
the day of atonement, the first and the eighth days of the feast of tabernacles, were 
days of holy convocation. Accordingly, there were in the ordinary year of Israel 
seven days in which no work was done, besides the weekly Sabbaths. Yet the weekly 
Sabbath and the Sabbath of the day of atonement were distinguished by a cessation 
of all business from the other six Sabbaths, on which an abstinence from the business 
of labor only was required. (See chapters quoted.) 

17-20. This is to be a pei-petual feast. In this self-same day. The first day of un- 
leavened bread, for it is the day of their deliverance. / shall have brought your hosts. 



80 THE PASSOVER IJq^STITUTED. 

The men above twenty years of age will march in battle array out of the land (13 : 18). 
An ordinance for ever. See vs. 14, 18-20. The time of eating unleavened bread is here 
more precisely defined. The prohibition is expressed also with more detail. A 
stranger. The strangers were afterward distinguished into two classes : proselytes of 
righteousness (p~^n i"l?l). who were circumcised, and so fully incorporated into the 
theocratic state, and entitled to all its privileges : and proselytes of the gate 
(nyii^n ''~l!l'' ^^^ were not circumcised, but acknowledged the one true and living 
God in common with Israel, and confessed themselves bound to observe what were 
called the seven laws of Noah, that were binding on all men. These prohibited blas- 
phemy, idolatry, murder, incest, plunder, disobedience to the state, and the eating of 
flesh cut from a living beast. All these, with the exception of the interdiction of in- 
cest, and perhaps plunder, may be fairly deduced from Gen. 9 : 1-7, in conjunction 
with the preceding portion of the written word ; in other words, from the second 
Bible of mankind, which terminates with the ninth chapter of Genesis, or with Gen. 
11 : 9. This is no dark intimation that the Jews, even of a late period (Talmud, from 
200 to 500 A.c), remembered and recognized the Noachic or general covenant with 
mankind as still co-existing with the Abrahamic or special covenant with Israel. On 
no other ground can we explain the admission of proselj'-tes of the gate to any stand- 
ing in the community of Israel, or the remarkable reference to the laws of Noah. 
These strangers of the gate were so called because they were admitted into the gate of 
the private or domestic court, though they did not form a part of the proper family, 
and in the temple were admitted into the court of Gentiles, but not into those that 
were accessible to the peculiar people. They also enjoyed the privileges of the cities 
of refuge (Num. 35 : 15), and certain other advantages incidental to their intermin- 
gling with the people of God (Lev. 25 : 35-55) ; but they were excluded from the pass- 
over and the other sealing ordinances of the Abrahamic covenant. Born in the land. 
A descendant of Israel, or of one incorporated into Israel by circumcision, and so a 
native and an heir of the promised land. In your dwellings. The obligation to abstain 
from leaven is to extend to those who remain at home, as well as to those who resort 
to the sanctuary for the observance of the passover. 

In this passage we have the institution of the feast of unleavened bread, which was 
the continuation of the passover meal, and was to be celebrated after the departure 
from Egypt. And we perceive that the sacred writer is more intent on the record of 
this institution than on the detail of the exodus itself. 

21-28. Moses communicates to the people the message he had received from the 
Lord. The record of this communication is given in brief terms. Called for the elders 
of Israel (Gen. 3 : 16). These were the official organs of the people, through whom it 
was easy for Moses to communicate with the whole of Israel. This message was de- 
livered to them in the beginning of the month, and certainly some days before the 
tenth. Draw out. Separate from the flock, not depart {cnTE?iQdvTeS), as the Sept. freely 
renders. A lamb. The original is " one of the flock" ("[{^'xj), which, according to the 
previous description (vs. 5), here means a lamb or a kid. And kill the passover. This 
is evidently a summary of the directions given by Moses. 22. A bunch of hyssop. 
Here the direction supplies what is wanting in the previous record. The hyssop is appar- 
ently a generic term including several species. The species here intended is generally 
supposed to be, not the hyssopus officinalis, but according to Maimonides and others, 
a plant called Sahtar by the Arabs, a kind of organy, an aromatic plant one foot high, 
growing on stony soil (1 Kings 5 : 13). A bunch according to tradition consists of 



EXODUS XII. 24-36. §1 

three stalks; And none of you shall com,e out from the door, from the blood-besprinkled 
door, within which is safety. The destroyer. The destructive power, agent, or instru- 
ment is hereby denoted. The intervention of angels is not necessarily implied. " The 
destroyer" (6 o^ioBpEvuv), of the Epistle to the Hebrews (11 : 28), seems to be the Lord 
himself, or the Angel of the Lord. 

24-27. The peipetual observance of this ordinance, which was enjoined in vs. 14, is 
here prescribed with great minuteness. This service. The ordinance is here desig- 
nated a service, inasmuch as it was an act of obedience to the Divine Master whose 
servants they had become. What mean ye ? This ordinance of God is a reasonable 
service, and therefore the children have a right to ask, and the parents are bound to 
give, a reason for its observance. It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover. Here the 
sacrificial nature of the passover is expressly asserted. 

28. The prompt obedience of the people, who were represented by their elders in 
the presence of Moses, and were informed of their duty through these officials, is 
here emphatically recorded. This brief statement brings up another thread of the 
narrative to the point of time when the last plague is to be executed. The selection 
of the lamb, the keeping of it from the tenth till the fourteenth day, during which in- 
terval we have supposed the three days of darkness to have occurred, the slaying of 
the paschal lamb between the evenings, and the partaking of it in the prescribed form, 
have now been all accomplished. 

29-36. We have now the narrative of the death of the first-born and the urgent dis- 
missal of Israel. At midnight. This refers to the point when the half of the night is 
past, and therefore to the darkest period in the whole twenty-four hours. The Lord 
smote. This awful stroke came from the immediate hand of God. Its miraculous 
nature appears in the prediction of the time and other circumstances of its infliction, 
in the instantaneous mode of its occurrence, in the selection of the Egyptians alone 
as its object, and in the further selection of the first-born alone of man and beast. It 
appears that among men the first-born only that remained unmarried in the house of 
their parents are here to be understood. The first-born of Pharoh is slain, while he 
himself is spared, though probably a first-born. It is said that " there was not a house 
where there was not one dead " ; but there might have been grandparents and parents 
as well as a first-born child deceased in one house, if other than the unmarried first- 
born had been contemplated in the threatened judgment. And Pharoh rose up in the 
night. The peril was too imminent to admit of delay. The cry of intense anguish 
arose from every home. The awful feeling that all might in another moment, at all 
events by another judgment, be struck down, awoke in every breast. And he called for 
Moses and Aaron by night. His indignant resolve to see Moses no more is soon forgot- 
ten. The meeting, moreover, could hardly be called an interview, as it was a hurried 
cry in the dark, imploring them to arise and go forth from among his people, with all 
the sons of Israel, urging them to take their flocks and herds, and go, and beseeching 
them to bless him also before they depart. By blessing him he meant releasing him 
from the menace of any other awful judgment, such as those that had already befallen 
him through their intervention. It is plain that he makes no condition with them as to 
returning after a limited time to his service. He is most anxious to propitiate Moses 
and the God of Moses by granting precisely and fully all that had been demanded. 
And hence he says, " And serve the Lord, as ye have spoken" ; ** take your flocks and 
your herds, as ye have spoken." It is now a case of life and death with him. "What 
need of insisting on a return, if we are to be all dead men ? And Mizraim urged thi 



82 THE DEPARTURE OF ISRAEL. 

people. Their first-born were all dead. The stroke had at length reached their per- 
sons, and had laid low the very dearest of every household. iNo wonder they expected 
to be all dead men. 

34-36. Took their dough before it was leavened. Here we see the coincidence of his- 
torical fact with the institution of the festival of unleavened bread. This bread was 
commemorative, as well as symbolical. We are not to infer that it was the design of 
the people on this occasion to leaven their dough, but that this was the routine that 
was wont to be pursued on ordinary occasions. Bound up in their garments. The gar- 
ment (n7Dti^) ^^^ ^ square piece of cloth that was thrown over the rest of the dress 
as a shawl or mantle, and was therefore suitable for wrapping up movable articles in 
a journey. 35, 36. And they spoiled Mizraim. The transaction here recorded is an act 
of compliance with a direction given as far back as the commission Moses received at 
the burning bush (3 : 21, 22), and recalled to mind the day before their departure 
(11 : 2). The Israelites were now in the ascendant. They held the position of con- 
querors, and the Egyptians, who had long and grievously wronged them and profited 
by their unrequited labors, felt themselves to be at their mercy. The demands made 
and the gifts bestowed in such circumstances were in substance a spoiling of Egypt. 
The Israelites were now in a position to extort a portion of their just rights, and they 
used their advantage with great moderation,* 

37-42, The departure of Israel from the land of bondage. F)'om Barneses, not the 
town, but the tract of country so called Gen. 47 : 11. It is unwarranted by the text, 
and inconceivable in itself, that the men, women, and children, with their cattle and 
movables, should have assembled at the town in order immediately to depart from it. 

It is not to be supposed that even the full-grown men started in a formed body from 
any one town, place it where we will. "VVe have no concern, therefore, with the site 
of Kameses the town, but only of Kameses the province, and it suffices to know that 
it was the border land of Egj^t toward Arabia. There is much probability in the 
opinion that it included the wady Tumilat, and so lay east of the Nile, and around the 
Birket Temsah, or crocodile lake, extending, however, considerably to the north and 
south of this valley. To Sukkoth. This site was probably some point near the western 
edge of the salt marshes or bitter lakes, that lay between the Birket Temsah, and the 
Gulf of Suez, and had a lower level than the sea. It is plain that this station was over 
the border of Kameses, and that it was the first rendezvous of the people. Each family, 
or party, on receiving gifts which its Egyptian neighbors pressed upon its acceptance, 
turned its steps, with its flocks and herds and beasts of burden, toward the border. 
The females, and the males under twenty, attended to the flocks and herds and mov- 
able chattels which they were able to take with them, and never contemplated a junc- 
tion, even at Sukkoth. They slowly and steadily moved to the east and south along 
the north end of the bitter lakes, some down the western side, without any fear of the 
Egyptians, who were engaged in burying their first-born, or at least in paying them 
the last sad rites. The males over twenty years of age, by previous concert, formed 
themselves into marching companies at their respective positions, faced toward Suk- 
koth, and gradually arranged themselves into tribes, and these, it may be, into camps 
or battalions, by the time they approached Sukkoth. It cannot surj)rise us that the 
site of Sukkoth is not to be found. It was possibly only a village, or a convenient 

* See on cb. 3: 21, Much misapprehension existed as to this transaction, from the fact that borrow 
and lend, the words of the Ixx,, crept into nearly all the translations. They do not represent the 
Hebrew words. The people demanded, and the Egyptians gave,— J, H. 



EXODUS xir. 38, 39. 83 

place for the halting of a large body of men ; and such a temporary resting-place, 
without intrenchments, left no trace behind. 

About ^ix hundred thousand foot. This is an avowed round number. It is below, 
rather than above, the actual number 603,550 (Num. 2 : 32 ; 3 : 39). From a calcula- 
tion of the percentage of deaths up to twenty years of age, it appears that those above 
that age are to those below it as 12 to 5. Hence the whole number of males would be 
about 850,000. This would give a sum total of males and females of about 1,700,000. 
The same result follows from the number of Levites, from a month old and upward, 
being 22,000 (Num. 3 : 9), while those from 30 to 50 were 8580 (Num. 4 : 48). For the 
number from 20 to 30 may be taken at half of those from 30 to 50, that is 4290 ; and 
the number above 50 may be two thirds of this, or 2860. Hence those above 20 would 
be about (8580 + 4290 + 2860) 15,730, and consequently those below would be about 
(22,000 — 15,730) 6270. These numbers are nearly in the ratio of 5 to 2. This gives 
840,000 for the males, and 1,680,000 for the whole. This sum has to receive a slight 
augmentation for the exact number and for the Levites, by which it reaches 1,734,540. 
The period of sojourn in Egypt v/as, according to our calculation, 210 years. As the 
average of seven generations from Arpakshad to Nahor was 31 years, when men lived 
from 438 to 148 years, we may safely assume 30 years as a generation, and, therefore, 
seven generations in 210 years (see on Gen. 1 : 22-26). As Abraham had six sons by 
Keturah, and Jacob six by Leah, we may also suppose each parent to have four sons 
on an average, when the divine blessing of fruitfulness was promised (Gen. 35 : 11), 
and actually bestowed in Egypt (1 : 7). With 68 males for the first term, 8 for the num- 
ber of terms, and 4 for the common ratio, the last term, or the number of males at the 
exodus, would be 1,114,112. This is considerably above the actual number, and 
therefore allows for a smaller number of generations in particular lines, as that of 
Moses. With a siDecial promise of fruitfulness, and an exceedingly fertile soil, this 
cannot be regarded as either an impossible or improbable increase. 

Apart from the little ones. The little ones here denote the young of both sexes. The 
women, being not otherwise mentioned, are implied in this term. 

38, 39. A mixed multitude is literally rendered by the Sept. eirituKTog tto'Av^, a numer- 
ous mixture. It seems to denote a congeries or gathering without order, in contact 
with the marshalled host of 600,000 men. It is generally supposed to have been a 
rabble of non-Israelites, consisting of slaves and disaffected Egyptians, who were glad 
to flee the countiy, and is usually identified with the gathering (T]CDCN) ^^ murmur- 
ers or mutineers, who are distinguished from the children of Israel in Num. 11 : 4. 
We do not pretend to deny that such were included. If the shepherd kings were at 
this time ruling the north of Egypt, we may readily grant that many of the natives 
would be dissatisfied with their civil condition. But it is possible that the multitude 
here described comprised the whole of those who did not form a part of the marshalled 
host, and therefore included the women and youth of the nation, who with the slaves, 
if there were any such, were employed in looking after the cattle in the various ranges 
of country where they were feeding. Hence it is added, that flocks and herds, even very 
much cattle, went up with them. At all events, it is plain on the face of the narrative 
that the young people and the women were apart from the regular host, and in charge 
of the cattle. And it is probable that a portion of the full-grown men, those most ad- 
vanced in years, were also associated with them in their wandering course. They 
baked the dough (see on vs. 34). This was generally the work of women ; but we know 
that the Bedawi in the desert, when on an expedition apart from his household, can 



84 THE DEPARTURE OF ISRAEL. 

cook his own food. "We find Abraham directing a young man to dress a calf (Gen. 
18 : 7), and Jacob seething pottage for his own use (Gen. 25 : 29). Unleavened cakes, 
round cakes baked on a kind of pan, or even among the cinders, in their present 
haste. Any provision. The word ,"|"^\j denotes that which is procured by the chase, 
wild animals of any kind, and here provisions in general, especially for a journey. 

40-42. Who sojourned in Mizraim. The Sept. in the cod. Vatic, has here t)v ■Kapuarjaav 
fv yrj Al-yvTTTCf) KoX kv yrj Xavadv, " which they sojourned in Egypt and in Kenaan." In 
the cod. Alex, it runs thus : " which they and their fathers sojourned in Egypt and in 
Kenaan." The Sam. has the verse thus : " and the sojourning of the sons of 
Israel and of their fathers, who (or which they) sojourned in the land of Kenaan 
and in the land of Mizraim," etc. These variants serve to prove that the Hebrew 
text has the correct reading. For h yg Xavaav proves itself to be an addition by 
coming after ev yij AlyvnTCf) when it ought in point of time to be before it. They also 
serve to show the meaning attached to the passage by the Sam. copy and the Sept. ver- 
sion. They both reckon the four hundred and thirty years from the call of Abraham. 
But from a narrow view of the pliancy of language, they concluded that *' the sons of 
Israel " could not be freely used to denote the race from Abraham down, and that the 
phrase, "who sojourned in Mizraim," did not admit of their having sojourned a pre- 
vious part of the time in Kenaan. Hence their emendations, or rather explications. 
But the author evidently used the present name of the race to represent that race, even 
when the name was not in existence. And he employs the expression, " who (or 
which they) sojourned in Mizraim," now that he was sojourning still, but in another 
place, naturally enough to describe that sojourning previous to the exodus, of which 
the residence in Mizraim had been the latest and by far the most significant part. 
Besides, Abraham had been in Egypt at the very beginning of their sojourning (Gen. 
12 : 10), and Joseph had been twenty-two years in that country before the arrival of 
Jacob's family. Other reasons concur to prove that this is the meaning of the author. 
Abraham is informed that " his seed (1) shall be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 
and (2) shall serve them, and (3) they shall afiiict them four hundred years" (Gen. 
15 : 13). Now Isaac was born when Abraham was a hundred years old, and therefore 
thirty years after he was called. The exodus therefore was four hundred years after the 
birth of Isaac. But Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob 
was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Egypt (Gen. 25 : 26 ; 
47 : 9). Hence the sojourn in Egypt lasted 210 [400 — (60 + 130)] years. Again, 
from Ex. 6 : 16-20, we learn that Moses was the grandson of Levi by the mother's 
side, and the great-grandson by the father's side. As Moses was eighty at the exodus, 
if Jokebed was born when Levi was one hundred years old, and therefore sixty-six 
years after the immigration, she must have been sixty-four at the birth of Moses 
(66 -f 64 + 80 = 210). It is manifest that we cannot add two hundred and twenty 
years to this period without presuming with some expositors that several generations 
are omitted. The writer, however, plainly gives us all the links of the genealogical 
chain, and not the slightest hint of any omission. He is precise not only in names, 
but in relationships and other circumstances. We have no more right to insert new 
and unknown links here than in the genealogies before and after Noah. And lastly, 
the Apostle Paul (Gal. 3 : 17) afiirms that the law was four hundred and thirty years 
after the covenant with Abraham. Any one of these arguments is sufficient to confirm 
what we hold to be the fair interpretation of the text. On the self-same day, immedi- 
ately after the close of the four hundred and thirty years. A night of observance, to be 



EXODUS XII. 43-51. 85 

kept as a commemorative solemnity in honor of the Lord their Deliverer. For bring- 
ing them out. The occasion of its appointment is here stated. Such is this night. The 
perpetuity of this observance is expressed with solemn emphasis. 

43-50. This paragraph determines who are to partake of the passover. This it was 
necessary to define so soon as the nation became independent, and therefore at liberty 
to admit and exclude. No alien, son of a foreign land, a general term for all non- 
Israelites. Every man's servant that is bought with his money. Such a man belongs to 
his master, and therefore to his master's nation. It is to be observed here that the 
legislator finds a kind of bondage in existence, and legislates for it. He determines 
that the slave is entitled to all the religious privileges of his master. A rsojourner, an 
inhabitant who is not incorporated into Israel by circumcision. A hireling, a mere day 
laborer, who is in the same relation. 46, 47. In one house. Where two families are joined 
in order to form a large enough company for the lamb, they are to assemble in one 
house. It is not to be separated or part of it carried to another house, and a bone of 
it shall not be broken. This is to denote the spiritual unity of those who partake of 
the one unbroken lamb. All the assembly. They are to be all one body. As circum- 
cision represents their new birth, the eating oi the paschal lamb is to shadow forth 
the perpetuation of their siDiritual life by faith in God. 48, 49. A stranger, a foreigner 
who resides for a longer or shorter time with the Israelites. Having been circumcised, 
his family is incorporated into Israel, and entitled to all the privileges of the 
chosen people. Thus the door is opened wide to all Gentiles who wish to partake 
in the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, as circumcision would in those days be 
considered no hardshij). 50. This verse closes the account of the celebration of the 
passover in conformity with all the requirements of the divine command. 

51. This verse is properly separated from the preceding paragraph, as it is the clos- 
ing summary of the narrative of the deliverance of Israel from the land of bondage, 
which here runs parallel with the record of the institution of the passover. 

This chapter completes the account of the ten plagues, by which the king of Egj'pt 
is at length constrained to let Israel go out of the land of bondage. He who might 
have overwhelmed all the might of Egypt by one awful stroke displays his long-suffer- 
ing forbearance by sending two verbal messages to Pharoh, and only after a second 
contemptuous refusal, proceeding to inflict a moderate chastisement, to bring him to 
repentance. The haughty obstinacy of the king requires a tenfold infliction, gradually 
increasing in severity, before it can be effectually overcome. And it is only finally and 
for ever subdued by his perishing in the Eed Sea. 



SECTION III.— THE EXODUS. 

IX. THE ESCAPE OF ISRAEL.— Ex. 13 : 15. 

CHAP. XIII. — SANCTIFICATION OP THE FIEST-BOKN. 

1^- rDO^D"" ^^ ^^y^' The attachment of n paragogic to this plural transforms it 
into an adverb, referring to a stated or natural circle of days. From the other 
passages in which it is used (Judg. 11 : 40 ; 21 : 19 ; 1 Sam. 1 : 3 ; 2 : 19) we are 
led to conclude that it denotes a year. 

12. -][29 thcit which opens the womb. The first-born ; r. cleave, ojjen. -\y\^ the 
casting^ or young of an animal. 

16. ni'DC^illD occurs only in this passage and Deut. 6:8; 11 : 18, where it 
denotes frontlets bound with a fillet round the head. The root is supposed to 
mean ^0 go round. 

18. Clti^/On "This means marshalled, in marching array, or, according to some, 
having the loins girt. The root in the former case is the numeral 'i^'Qnfi'^^^ which is 
the basis of arrangement ; in the letter the noun "^'^n rendered the loin. The word, 
is here rendered irejurrrT) yeved in the Sept., girded in the Trag., and armati in the 
Vulgate. It occurs only in four passages, here and in Josh. 1 : 14 ; 4 : 12 ; Judg. 
7 : 11. In Josh. 1 : 14 it denotes separate from the women and children, and in 
marching order (Sept. ev^ovoC). In Josh. 4 : 12, 13 it again signifies in marching 
order, and is distinguished from ^^n^^n i^j^^'n equipped for the war (Sept. Sie- 
onevaafiivoi^ and ev^uvot ets /naxv^)- In Judg. 7 : 11 it refers to soldiers in camp, 
and therefore points rather to arrangement than armor (Sept, nevTr/Koi'Ta). It is 
evident that the Seventy only conjectured what might be the meaning of the 
word. From all the contexts in which it occurs the meaning appears to be in 
marching array, and therefore apart from the women and children, the question 
of arms being left open. 

20. cr\^ Sept. 'OQw/z, Etham {atiom the border of the sea, Jablonski). The 
derivation is uncertain. 

Xin. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying ; 2. Sanctify unto me every first- 
born, that openeth every womb, among the sons of Israel, of man and of beast : it is 
mine. 

3. And Moses said unto the people, Kem ember this day, in which ye came out of 
Mizraim, out of the house of bondage ; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you 
out thence : and nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4. This day come ye out in the 
month Abib. 5. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the 
Kenaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which 
he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou 
shalt keep this service in this month, 6. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread ; 
and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. 7. Unleavened bread shall be 
eaten the seven days ; and nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, neither shall 
leaven be seen with thee in all thy border. 8. And thou shalt show thy sons in that 



EXODUS XIII. 1-10. 87 

day, saying, It is on account of that which the Lord did unto me when I came out of 
Mizraim. 9. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial 
between thine eyes, that the law of the Loed may be in thy mouth : for with a strong 
hand hath the Lokd brought thee out of Mizraim. 10. And thou shalt keep this ordi- 
nance in its season from year to year. ^ 20. 

11. And it shall be when the Lord bringeth thee into the land of the Kenaanite, as 
he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and hath given it thee, 12. That thou shalt set 
apart all that openeth the womb unto the Loed ; and every firstling that cometh of a 
beast which thou hast, the males shall be the Loed's. 13. And every firstling of an 
ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb ; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt 
break its neck : and every first-born of man among thy sons thou shalt redeem. 14, 
And it shalt be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this ? that 
thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Loed brought us out of Mizraim, out 
of the house of bondage. 15. And it came to pass, when Pharoh would hardly let us 
go, that the Loed slew all the first-born in the land of Mizraim, from the first-born of 
man to the first-born of beast : therefore I sacrifice to the Loed all that openeth the 
womb, being males, and all the first-born of my sons I redeem. 16. And it shall be for 
a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes : for by strength of hand the 
Loed brought us out of Mizraim. 16. § ^ § 15. 

17. And it came to pass, when Pharoh let the people go, that God led them not by 
the way of the land of the Philistines, though that was near ; for God said, Lest the 
people repent when they see war, and return to Mizraim. 18. And God led the people 
round by the way of the wilderness of the Eed Sea : and the sons of Israel went up 
marshalled out of the land of Mizraim. 19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with 
him : for he had straitly sworn the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, 
and ye shall carry up my bones hence with you. 20. And they set out from Sukkoth, 
and encamped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21. And the Lord went be- 
fore them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of 
fire to give them light ; to go by day and night. 22. The pillar of cloud did not cease 
by day, nor the pillar of fire by night before the people. ^ 21. 

The record of the first step in the departure out of Egypt is necessarily involved in 
the narrative of the tenth plague. But though the people have been dismissed, they 
are not clear out of the country. The grand scene of the exodus yet remains. This 
is the passage through the Ked Sea. And as soon as the people are come to the place" 
where the Lord first appeared to Moses, the exodus may be said to be complete. 
These events occupy the third six chapters of this book. They contain two sub- 
divisions ; first, the crossing of the Ked Sea, in three chapters, and next the Journey 
to Horeb, occupying the remaining three. 

The present chapter contains the directions concerning the sanctification of the first- 
born, and some details concerning the manner of their journey. 

1-16. This paragraph relates to the sanctification of the first-born. And ihe Lord 
spake unto Moses. As the words " in Mizraim" are no longer added, we may presume 
that this is the first communication given after they reached the border. Sanctify unto 
me, set apart as mine, and therefore holy. Every first-horn that is a male (vs. 12). Of 
man and beast. As the first-born of man and beast perished among the Egyptians, so 
are they equally to be given over to the Lord among the Israelites. That openeth every 
icomb, the first-born of every mother. It is mine. All things belong to God by right 
of creation. All Israel belonged to him by right of redemption. The first-born belong 
to him by right of passing over them when Egypt's first-born were destroyed. Hence 
the consecration of the first-born is clearly connected with the passover, and accord- 
ingly is prescribed immediately after the first step of the exodus. 

3-10. Hence Moses now proceeds to enjoin upon the people the observance of the 
feast of unleavened bread, which commences with the passover. Rem,emher this day. 



88 SAKCTIFICATIOK OF THE FIRST-BORK. 

Festivals are commemorative of some great event in the ways of God with man. This 
day is the first day of unleavened bread, the first day of Israel's emancipation. Out 
of the house of bondage, literally of bondsmen. From a position of freedom and honor 
they had been nnjustly and ungratefully reduced to the condition of serfs. By strength 
of hand, a variation of the phrase "by a strong hand." Nothing leavened. The dis- 
tinguishing mark of this festival is that no leaven shall be used in food. 4. Abib is 
the month of green ears, on the fifteenth day of which was the first full moon after the 
vernal equinox. 5-7. Shall bring thee into the land. This festival is to be a perpetual 
ordinance in the land of promise. The five tribes here enumerated are all descended 
from Kenaan. The Perizzite of Gen. 15 : 20 and Ex. 3 : 8, is here omitted, perhaps be- 
cause only Kenaanites are here to be mentioned. In the seventh day shall be a feast to 
the Lord, as well as in the first, which is to be understood from fuller communications. 
8-10. And thou shall shoio thy so7i. The duty of parental instruction in religious 
truth is here enjoined. The history of the ways of God with man is a precious trust, 
to be conveyed faithfully from father to son. A full knowledge of our relation to God 
is only to be obtained by an acquaintance with the main facts of his past dealing with 
us. Hence a commemorative ordinance is valuable ; but it only rises to its full im- 
portance when its origin and significance are clearly explained and well understood. 
The redemption out of Egypt is the present fulfilment of a great promise, and at the 
same time an earnest of a still greater fulfilment in the future. The present is always 
big with the future ; and this is nowhere so signally realized as in the promises of 
God and the development of man. 9. A sign unto thee upon thy hand. The celebration 
of the passover, being thus expounded and observed from generation to generation, 
will be for a sign upon the hand, and a frontlet between the eyes. There is a 
beautiful consecration of personal ornament in this injunction. These orna- 
ments, being embellishments of the person, came often before the eye and the 
mind as pleasing objects of contemplation. Being gifts, and therefore keep- 
sakes or memorials of pure affection, they became bonds of love and gratitude, attach- 
ing the heart to the giver. The armlet or bracelet, moreover, clasped the hand, the 
seat of power, and hinted at the lesson that the actions are to be bound by the law of 
love. The fillet or frontlet encircles the head, the seat of intelligence, and similarly 
Intimates that the thoughts are to be regulated by the law of truth. The jewel on the 
forehead, between the eyes, from which this ornament is called the frontlet, being 
placed on the most conspicuous part of the person, is an emblem of frank confession, 
or brave glorying in a person or a principle. That the sign on the hand or between 
the eyes was not a brand, such as was put upon slaves and soldiers, nor a kind of 
tattooing, such as we still find among savage nations, is manifest from Deut. 6:8; 
11 : 18, where they are said to be put on by binding, and from the phylacteries of the 
Jews, which were bound on the forehead and on the wrist of the left hand. These 
phylacteries or Tephillin (prayer-bands) were strips of parchment, on which were 
written, Ex. 13 : 1-10, 11-16 ; Deut. 6:4-9; 11 : 13-21. These were inclosed in little 
boxes or cases of leather attached to leather straps, by which they were fastened to the 
places where they were worn. This custom was not prescribed by the present passage, 
and can only be regarded as an indication of a feeble and declining piety. Here it is 
intimated that the observance of the passover, with its accompanying ordinances, is 
to serve for a sign upon our hands and a memorial between our eyes, and therefore to 
remind us of the beauty of holiness ; to awaken our attachment to the heavenly Friend 
who gave us this ordinance as the symbol of our redemption to freedom ; to bend our 



EXODUS XIII. 11-22. 89 

actions and our thouglits by true love, tlie law of reason and of heaven ; and to sig- 
nalize our thankful and open glorifying in the Lord, and in his covenant. The sacra- 
ments of the divine appointment, and not the phylacteries of our own invention, are 
to be the signs upon our hands and the frontlets between our eyes, telling of our faith 
in God ; om- reconciliation to him ; our entrance into the glorious liberty of the sons 
of God. They are to be the ornaments of our spiritual beauty, and the speaking in- 
struments of God's everlasting love to us, and of our new-born attachment to him. 
That the law of the Lord may he in thy month, as a subject of conversation, and therefore 
of habitual thought and observance. 10. In its season, its appointed time. From 
year to year, literally from days to days. But the word days here is used in a collective 
sense, to denote a definite and well-known circle of days, that is, a year. 

11-16. Moses now communicates to the people the law concerning the consecration 
of the first-born. Into the land of the Kenaanite. This regulation is to come into force 
when Israel shall reach the land in which he is to dwell. It is here called the land of 
the Kenaanite, as all the tribes before mentioned were descended from Kenaan. The 
eventual residence of Israel for forty years in the wilderness was in consequence of 
the unbelief and disobedience of the outcoming generation, and is, therefore, not 
here contemplated ; but, on the other hand, it is presumed that they are to pass im- 
mediately through the wilderness into the promised land. An interval of a year, 
however, was to be expected in the peninsula of Sinai, and for this period a special 
provision will be found (Num. 3). As he sware, unto thee. He sware unto them when 
he acknowledged the oath which he sware unto their fathers, in which they were 
named (Ex. 6:8; Gen. 22 : 16 ; 24 : 7). 12. ISet apart, cause to pass over unto the Lord 
as his own. 13. And every firstling of an ass. The ass is here specified as an example 
of what was to be done in the case of unclean animals. It seems probable that the ass 
was at this time the only, or at all events the chief, beast of burden possessed by the 
Israelites. It is a much finer animal in the East than in these countries. Thou shalt 
redeem with a lamh. To redeem is to give a quittance for the ass, which is fixed by law 
to be a lamb, to be offered in sacrifice in its stead. And if thou wilt not redeem it. It 
is the Lord's, from the time that he smote the first-born of every domestic animal 
among the Egyptians, and not among the Israelites. As it cannot be offered in sacri- 
fice, it is to be put to death. To put a brute animal to death without inflicting un- 
necessary pain, when occasion requires, cannot be called cruelty. The command of the 
Creator is at least one occasion on which this may be done, as he who gave life can 
withdraw it. The alternative of redeeming or destroying the firstling of an unclean 
animal is a temporary arrangement, until a sacerdotal order has been set up. From 
that time forward the alternative comes to be to redeem according to the estimate of 
the priests, and add a fifth part, or surrender it to the priests, by whom it is sold at 
his estimation (Lev. 27 : 27). The redemption of the first-born of man admits of no 
alternative. The ransom was five shekels (Num. 3 : 47). 14-16. The custom of redeem- 
ing the first-born, which naturally flows from the passover, serves, in like manner, for 
a sign on the hand and a frontlet between the eyes, as explained on vs. 9. 

17-22. A single stage, and some general features of the future march of Israel are 
here stated, God led them. One leading feature of their course henceforth is that they 
are under the guidance of the Most High. Antecedent to this guidance, and irrespec- 
tive of all covenant with the guided, he is the everlasting Potentate from whom all 
creation and all providence flow, the King eternal, immortal, invisible. In this char- 
acter he arranges the first direction given to their course, as far as it depends on the 



90 FROM SUCCOTH TO ETHAM. 

natural relations of things. Two ways were before the people, the one leading north- 
east, directly toward the land of promise ; the other nearly south, toward the Sinaitic 
peninsula. Before they started, it was necessary to determine which they were to 
take, that no time might be lost, and no misunderstanding might arise. By the 
icay of the land of the Philistines. This way was familiar to the sons of Israel in former 
times, when Ephraim asserted a claim and maintained a position in the regions from 
Shekem to Gath (1 Chron. 7 : 21-24), and was well known at all times by the caravans 
of traders from Damascus and Gilead (Gen. 37 : 25). Lest the people repent when they 
see loar. This is the determining motive springing from the things of the natural 
world. It is sufficient to shape their course for the present, and, on the score of econ- 
omy, no further influence is brought into operation. But other and higher motives, 
arising in the sphere of the supernatural, lie hid in the counsels of Jehovah, that is, 
of God as he is, the God of the actual and the spiritual. The natural reason, then, 
not the supernatural, is here given for directing their course southward. Bound hy the 
vxiy of the toilderness of the Red Sea. This way was round in reference to Kenaan, the 
place of their destination. The wilderness of the Ked Sea is so called, in contradis- 
tinction to that which they would have crossed in the straight road to the land of 
Kenaan, The former is here called the wilderness of Etham. Both were included 
under the wider term Shur (Gen. 16 : 7 ; 25 : 18 ; Ex. 15 : 22). Marshalled. From the 
usage of this word, we infer that the full-grown men formed a body, arranged in 
columns or battalions, for orderly march, apart from the women and children. The 
latter were not on this occasion assembled together ; biit assisted, it may be, by small 
detachments of men, moved along in separate companies with the flocks and chattels 
of the nation. Meanwhile, the full-grown men gradually mustered, and now marched 
in order, arranged on the basis of five, and having probably captains of tens, of hun- 
dreds, of thousands, and of greater numbers. We know that ultimately they formed 
five camps, or battalions, four under the standards of Judah, Eeuben, Ephraim, and 
Dan, and the fifth consisting of the Levites (Num. 1, 2). This body of men was thus 
enabled to move with precision, and afford an efficient protection to the scattered 
families that were advancing slowly, encumbered as they were with the cattle and the 
movable property that were under their charge. 

19. The bones of Joseph. What a light this casts upon the living thoughts and cher- 
ished recollections of this people. About one hundred and forty years ago Joseph had 
bound their fathers by an oath to carry his bones with them to the land of promise 
(Gen. 50 : 24, 25). This oath, and the hopes inseparably connected with it, were 
often talked over in the family gatherings of the evening, and the memory of it faith- 
fully handed down from father to son. This little incident warrants us to imagine 
the frequent and earnest conferences which took place in the homes and social meet- 
ings of Israel concerning the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; the land 
to which they were to return when the iniquity of the Amorite was full ; the privileges 
and blessings that were in store for the seed of Abraham, and in that seed for all the 
families of the earth ; the ancient and universal covenant with Noah, which was yet 
to be fulfilled by the seed of Abraham, for the salvation of all nations. If the dying- 
request of Joseph was remembered, we cannot suppose that the sublime prospects held 
out to their own race by the word and oath of the Lord were altogether forgotten. 
We must presume they were the topics of frequent meditation and fervent prayer. 

20-22. They set out from Sukkoth. They arrived at this place on the first day of un- 
leavened bread, which was to be kept as a Sabbath. They probably gave it the name 



EXODUS XIII. 20-22. 91 

Siikkoth, booths, tabernacles, pavilions (Gen. 33 : 17), because they set up a few booths 
and spent some portion of the day in holy rest, a thankful rest after liberty achieved. 
This is the solemn beginning of that dwelling in booths which was afterward cel- 
ebrated in the feast of tabernacles in the seventh month (Lev. 23 : 39-43). And en- 
camped in JEtham. On the second day they reached this place, which lay probably in 
the space between the Bitter Lakes and the head of the Gulf of Suez. Niebuhr 
identifies it with Ajrud. But it was most probably a little farther east. 21* 22. And 
the Lord went before them. Here we enter into the region of the supernatural. God 
now appears as Jehovah, the Author and Upholder of being, of covenant and promise. 
By day in a pillar of cloud. A visible pillar of cloud or vapor, a conspicuous object 
that could be seen not only by the marshalled host but by the scattered companies of 
women and children, as they fed their flocks and followed afar off the marvellous 
signal of the divine presence. A great host marching through a country without 
roads or other marks of civilization must be provided with some conspicuous object to 
serve as a signal to the main body and to all straggling parties connected with it. 
Hence the round grate full of kindled fuel, elevated on a pole, which was carried be- 
fore caravans and armies in the East (Curtius, v. 2, 7). The ancient Persians carried 
a sacred fire in silver altars before their armies, and other ancient nations observed a 
similar custom (Curtius, iii. 3, 9 ; Diod. Sic, xvi. 66). As the Lord now undertakes 
the miraculous guidance of the chosen nation, he manifests his presence by a majestic 
pillar of cloud, reaching from earth to sky. This appears in the day as a dark cloud, 
contrasted by its shade with the clearness of the sunshine, and in the night as a bright 
fire to give them light. As the heat of the day was unfavorable for active exertion, it 
was customary to go by night as well as by day ; and hence the pillar was present by 
night and by day to the journeying people. In it the Lord himself was present as the 
leader and protector of his people (Ex. 14 : 19, 20 ; Num. 14 : 14 ; Ps. 105 : 39) ; and 
from it he speaks to Moses as the representative and lawgiver of the people (Ex. 
19 ; 33 : 9 ; Num. 12 : 5), and on one grand occasion to the assembled people them- 
selves (20). He who thus manifests his presence to his people is also called the angel 
of the God (14 : 19). The same mode of manifestation is varied merely according to 
the circumstances in the lambent flame of the burning bush. It appears afterward 
also in the cloud over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim, which in the theological 
language of Israel is called the shekinah (nj''rti^')> or dwelling-place of God. The 
elementary forms of cloud and fire are extremely apposite to the present purpose of 
guiding the host of the Lord by day and night. They have at the same time a general 
fitness to indicate the presence of the Lord without awakening any material or carnal 
misconceptions in the mind of the beholder. They do not belong to the kingdom of 
nature or art, and therefore do not suggest any debasing views of the Creator, or im- 
pute to him any properties of the creature. They are in themselves preternatural, and 
at the same time do not assume any definite form or resemblance of any creature, and 
therefore are not in danger of being taken for anything but the surroundings of the 
present Deity. Fire, in its various forms of flame, light, heat, and electric flash, is a 
striking emblem of the great Spirit, and the smoke or vapor which accompanies it is a 
manifest type of the phenomena which surround and conceal the essence, while at 
the same time they indicate the presence of the Mighty Potentate. The pillar that 
balances itself in mid-air, unsupported by the earth and unshaken by the winds of 
heaven, serves well to mark the presence of him who is independent of the laws of 
nature. And lastly the pillar of fire and cloud (14 : 24) is manifestly not the Lord, nor 



92 THE ESCAPE OE ISRAEL. 

a figure of the Lord, but the visible and real sign of his actual presence among his 
people for their guidance, protection, and comfort. The pillar of cloud did not cease. 
It did not vanish from their view ; but was a constant and unerring signal before or 
in the sight of the people. We have not now the pillar of fire and cloud ; but we have 
the word of God, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. This also is a 
supernatural revelation of the present Lord and his Messiah by the eternal Spirit, 
conveyed through the minds and words of holy men. This spiritual flame, kindled 
from heaven and enshrined in the cloud of human speech, has not been lost or ex- 
tinguished, but continued from generation to generation, and is in the way of being 
diffused throughout the whole world, to be the guide of the nations to the land of 
promise till the days of darkness disappear. It remains a speaking token of the con- 
tinual presence of the God of all grace — of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost— in 
his church. 

CHAP. XIV. ESCAPE OF ISRAEL. OVEKTHROW OP EGYPT. 

3. riTTin '^B Pi hachiroth, the mouth of the caves (pi-achi-rot, place of reeds or 
sedge, Jablonski). Hachiroth bears some resemblance to Ajrud. 

7"I^/D Migdol, tower. The site has not been ascertained, but is suppose^. . y 
some to be Muktala. 

]DH ^y3 Baal-tsephon, place of Typhon, the fiery and mephitic blast, the drought 
that consumes all vegetable life. But on the other hand it may mean the hiding 
of Baal, and thus form a local name for the west, or the point where the sun sets. 

7. ^i^ti^ third part ; a musical instrument ; a third man, TpiaraTTjS, or knight. 
The last term is here employed in a wide sense, to denote a class of adjutants who 
were near the king for active and trusty service in peace or war. 

XrV. 1. And the Loed spake unto Moses saying, 2. Speak unto the sons of Israel 
and let them turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea ; before 
Baal-zephon, over against it let them encamp by the sea. 3. And Pharoh will say of 
the sons of Israel, They are entangled in the land ; the wilderness hath shut them in. 
4. And I will harden Pharoh's heart, and he shall pursue after them ; and I will be 
honored upon Pharoh and upon all his army, and Mizraim shall know that I am the 
Loed. And they did so, 5. And it was told the king of Mizraim that the people fled : 
and the heart of Pharoh and of his servants was turned against the people ; and they 
said. What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us. 6. And 
he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him. 7. And he took six hundred 
chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Mizraim, and knights over all of them. 8. And 
the Loed hardened the heart of Pharoh king of Mizraim, and he pursued after the 
sons of Israel : and the sons of Israel were coming out with a high hand. 9. And 
Mizraim pursued after them, and all the chariot horses of Pharoh and his horsemen, 
and his army overtook them encamping on the sea by Pi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon. 
10, And Pharoh drew nigh : and the sons of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold 
Mizraim marched after them ; and the sons of Israel were sore afraid, and cried unto 
the Lord. 11. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Mizraim 
hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness ? Why hast thou dealt thus with us 
to bring us out of Mizraim ? 12. Is not this the word that we told thee in Mizraim, 
saying, Let us alone that we may serve Mizraim ? For it had been better for uis to 
serve Mizraim than to die in the wilderness. 13. And Moses said unto the people, 
Fear ye not ; stand still, and see the salvation of the Loed, which he will work for 
you to-day : for whereas ye have seen Mizraim to-day, ye shall see them again no more 
for ever. 14. The Loed shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace, ^ 22. 

15. And the Lord said unto Moses, Why criest thou unto me ? Speak unto the sons 



EXODUS XIV. 1-14. 93 

of Israel that they set out. 16. And thou lift up thy rod and stretch out thy hand 
over the sea and divide it : and the sons of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on 
dry ground. 17. And I, behold I will harden the heart of Mizraim, and they shall go 
in after them ; and I will be honored upon Pharoh and upon all his army, upon his 
chariots and upon his horsemen. 18. And Mizraim shall know that I am the Loed 
when I am honored upon Pharoh, upon his chariots and upon his horsemen. 19. And 
the angel of God, that went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind 
them : and the pillar of cloud removed from before them and stood behind them. 20. 
And it came between the camp of Mizraim and the camp of Israel ; and the cloud and 
darkness were to those, and it lightened the night to these ; and the one drew not near 
the other all the night. 21. And Moses stretched his hand over the sea ; and the Lord 
drove the sea by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry ground ; and 
the waters were divided. 22. And the sons of Israel went in the midst of the sea on 
the dry ground : and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on 
their left. 23. And Mizraim pursued, and all Pharoh's horses, his chariots, and his 
horsemen went after them into the midst of the sea. 24. And it came to pass in the 
morning watch that the Lobd looked into the host of Mizraim in the pillar of fire and 
cloud, and troubled the host of Mizraim. 25. And he took off their chariot wheels, 
and made them drive heavily : and Mizraim said, Let me fl.ee from the face of Israel ; 
for the Lord fighteth for them against Mizraim. ^ 23. 

26. And the Loed said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, and the waters 
shall return upon Mizraim, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 27. And 
Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned when the morning 
appeared to its force : and Mizraim fled against it ; and the Loed overthrew Mizraim 
in the midst of the sea. 28. And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and 
the horsemen, and all the army of Pharoh that went after them into the sea : there 
remained of them not even one. 29. And the sons of Israel had walked on the dry 
ground in the midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right 
hand and on their left. 30. And the Lord on that day saved Israel out of the hand of 
Mizraim ; and Israel saw Mizraim dead upon the sea-shore. 31. And Israel saw the 
great hand which the Loed put forth on Mizraim, and the people feared the Loed : 
and they believed in the Loed, and in Moses his servant. ^ 24, 

The ten plagues were preceded by a series of miraculous signs by which the Lord 
attested the commission of his servant. The present chapter records the miraculous 
escape of Israel through the Eed Sea, and the overthrow of Mizraim in attempting the 
same passage by the return of the waters to their ordinarj^ course. The number ten is 
expressive of completeness. The twelve interpositions of the Lord on behalf of his 
people indicate a deliverance according to the covenant of grace which stands between 
them. The number twelve plays an important part in the series of symbolical numbers ; 
for being composed of the factors three and four, it fits well with the notion of a cove- 
nant between God and the world of mankind (see on Gen. 2:3). 

1-14. The Lord's direction to Israel concerning the third day's march. Let them 
turn. The word here employed denotes to return or turn back from the way hitherto 
pursued. Etham, we have seen, was on the edge of the wilderness to which it gave 
name (13 : 20). To go forward was to pass immediately into the wilderness, whither 
Pharoh, on changing his mind, might have pursued without hinderance the embar- 
rassed and imperfectly armed fugitives. If the Lord would not lead them by the di- 
rect roa(J into the land of promise, lest they should be discouraged by the appearance 
of war, much more must he not conduct them straight into the wilderness, 
where they might be readily overtaken and discomfited by a well disciplined 
host with all the accoutrements of war. Hence the order to change the line of march. 
Encamp before Pl-hahiroth. The place here mentioned has been by many identified 
with Ajrud, a fort, with a well of bitter water, on the pilgrim route from Cairo to Mecca, 



94 THE PURSUIT OE PHAROH. 

four hours' north-west of Suez. The site is probable enough, and even the name has 
a distant resemblance to that in the text. Between Migdol and the sea. The place here 
mentioned is named from its nature, being a tower situated on some eminence or 
vantage ground, between which and the sea lay a level area of about ten miles extent. 
In this plain the marshalled bands of Israel are to encamp, having apparently Ajrud, 
or Hahiroth to the north-west, Migdol to the west, and the sea to the east. Before 
Baal-zephon. In the absence of definite information, and after the local changes of 
thirty-three centuries, it appears impossible to determine the site thus designated. It 
seems connected with Baal, or the Sun ; and was perhaps a temple erected on a peak, 
or spur, of Jebel Attaka. Hence it lay, not improbably, on the south of the encamping 
ground, which was then before Baal-zephon that was over against Pi-hahiroth. Thus 
the Israelites in their new station would have the mountains on the west and south, 
and the sea on the east. They were thus brought into the only place where an effectual 
barrier could be put between them and a pursuing enemy, as the event will show. 3. 
And Fharoh loill say. This very position of Israel, which is eventually to relieve them 
from a harassing and overwhelming foe, seems of all others the most certain to leave 
them an easy prey to the destroyer. They are entangled in the land. They have fallen 
into a snare, from which it is impossible to escape. It is still in my power to detain 
them in the land from which their leader has not been able to extricate them. The 
wilderness has shut them in. They have been afraid to face the wilderness, which does 
not naturally afford the means of supporting so vast a host of men, in addition to the 
concourse of flocks and herds, for which it might yield a scanty subsistence. Pharoh 
will conjecture that the fear of perishing by famine has been the cause of their turning 
back. 4. And I v:iU harden Fharoh'' s heart. See oh 4 : 21. And I will he honored upon 
Pharoh. The Lord has been already honored in the eleven manifestations of his power 
before Pharoh. His glory will be still more signally displayed in the twelfth. Shall 
know that I am the Lord. See on 6 : 2. And they did so. This brief sentence sums up 
their compliance. 

5-9. The pursuit of Pharoh. The third day had now arrived. The panic which had 
seized the Egj^ptians had now given way to other feelings. Pride, ambition, and re- 
venge again took possession of the breast of Pharoh. But the narrative reverts to the 
first or second day after the escape of Israel. It was told the king of Mizraim that the 
people fled. This may have taken place on the second day after their departure. On 
the first day they must have been too busy with the mournful task of caring for the 
dead (Num. 33 : 4). The heart of Pharoh and of his servants was turned against the people. 
The sight of their own dead, and the thought of those making their escape who had 
been the occasion of this domestic, as well as national, calamity, aroused the spirit of 
enmity in their hearts. What is this we have done ? The fierceness of their disappoint- 
ment now exceeds the bitterness of their grief. 6, 7. Made ready his chariot. Orders 
for instant preparation were not long in following this exasperation on the part of Pha- 
roh and his servants, and the military part of the nation would be constrained to a 
prompt acquiescence. On the second or third day, therefore, Pharoh and his people 
set out in pursuit. Six hundred chosen chariots, belonging to the king himself ; all the 
chariots belonging to the state. Horses were imported into Egypt from Asia. They 
are first mentioned on the monuments in the reign of Ames or Amosis, the first of the 
18th dynasty, and are supposed to have been introduced by the shepherd kings. 
Herodotus relates (ii. 108) that Sesostris so intersected the country with canals as to 
render it unfit for horses or chariots. And knights over all of them. The knights here 



EXODUS XIV. 10-25. 95 

are men-at-arms, who were ready for any service requiring promptitude and fidelity. 
They cannot now be more exactly defined. 8. And the sons of Israel were coming out 
with a high hand. The people were animated with the triumphant confidence which so 
great a deliverance by the hand of the Lord had inspired, and their courage had not 
yet been damped by the sight of the Egyptians pursuing. Overtook them. We are now 
fairly arrived at the third day, on which the Israelites encamped on the sea by Pi- 
hahiroth before Baal-zephon. The pursuers had probably started on the second day, 
and the deflection of the Israelites was enjoined in order to place an impassable bar- 
rier between them and their implacable enemy, 

10. The expostulation of the people with Moses when there seems to be no possi- 
bility of escaping from Pharoh. And Pharoh drew nigh, so as to come within view. 
The sons of Israel descry the pursuing enemy, and are sore afraid. They cried unto 
the Lord, doubtless in the extremity of their despair. If they had bethought them of 
the wonderful interposition that opened their way out of Egypt, or cast their eyes on 
the pillar of cloud and fire that had begun to accompany them, they might have re- 
tained their self-possession, even on the approach of the enemy. But at the sight of 
their former masters, approaching in all the pomp of war, their courage fails. In a 
human point of view their case was bad enough. The mountains were on the west 
and south, the sea on the east, and the war chariots of the well-appointed foe advanc- 
ing on the north. There was not the slightest prospect of ultimate escape for a fugitive 
people scantily furnished with the means of defence. 11, 12. In the agony of distress 
they upbraid their leader with the apparent result of his ill-advised rashness. 13, 14. 
Moses is still strong in faith. He has had abundant proofs of the power and truth of 
God, and he has heard him announce that he will now be honored in Pharoh and all 
his army. He has therefore no doubt of full and timely deliverance. He accordingly 
exhorts the people to stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Ye shall see them 
no more for ever. This implies that he was not unaware of the catastrophe that was 
approaching. The Lord shall fight for you. He only could have delivered a defenceless 
people from a fully equipped and infuriated enemy ; and he has taken his own way 
of accomplishing the task. He might no doubt have allowed the Israelites to march on 
into the wilderness, and in some other way arrested the hot pursuit of the vindictive 
Pharoh. But it is merely impossible for us to shew that any other way would have 
equally well served all the purposes of salvation to the fugitives, destruction to the 
pursuers, and admonition to all the survivors of that memorable night that was draw- 
ing nigh. 

15-25. The passage of Israel on dry ground through the Eed Sea. Why criest thou 
unto me ? This is a reply, it may be, to the mere circumstances of the case, that have 
a voice that reaches the heart of God (Gen. 4 : 10), but also no doubt to the earnest 
supplications of the people, and even of Moses. It seems to intimate that Moses was 
the representative of the despairing people, or that he was himself, either unduly 
moved by the apparent danger, or in some degree forgetful of what ought to be done 
at this momentous crisis. That they set out, break up their present encampment. It 
is probable that the marching was done for the most part in the night, or at all events 
in the evenings and mornings, and that the people had rested some time in their 
present station. Lift up thy rod. It is not recorded that Moses was directed before 
this to employ his rod for opening up the way. But the question of the Lord seems 
to intimate that he might have been prepared for such a command. 17, 18. In these 
words we have a reiteration of the statement contained in vs. 4, with considerable 



96 OVERTHKOW OF PHAROH. 

amplification in the details. I will harden the heart of Mizraim, not of Pharoh only. 
Upon his horsemen and upon his chariots. This is a specification of the principal or 
characteristic parts of Pharoh's host. 19, 20. The issuing of the above command to 
Moses is the first of a series of steps or movements in the narrative correspondent 
with the native grandeur of the occasion. These two verses contain the second step. 
The angel of God, with the pillar of fire and cloud that had hitherto headed the march 
of Israel's manhood, now moved to the rear, between the camps or hosts of Israel and 
Mizraim. This awe-inspiring column now assumed a twofold aspect, presenting a 
dark and cloudy side to Egj'^pt, and a bright and cheering one to Israel, and remaining 
as a tower of fire between them all the night. 21. The third step is the dividing of 
the waters. Drove the sea by a strong east wind. A strong north-east wind is said to 
have considerable influence in the present day on the ebb of the tide in the Ked Sea, 
as well as in other places. Such a natural occurrence, however, only drives out the 
whole body of waters farther from the shore. It does not " divide the waters," and so 
make them " a wall " on each side of the dry ground, or leave time or space for the 
passage of a large multitude, or happen precisely at the moment when escape from an 
advancing foe makes it convenient for the leader of the retreating squadrons to wave 
over the waters his rod of power. We cannot explain how the sea became dry ground. 
We only know that the Lord commanded Moses to stretch out his wand, and he did 
so, and that the resulting change was accompanied with a strong east wind. Whether 
there was an elevation of the bed of the sea we are not informed, and the letter of the 
text seems not in favor of it. 22. The next step is the passage of Israel, with a wall of 
waters on each side. 23-25. Then, in hot haste, the Egyptians rush in between the 
watery walls. All their host are soon in the midst of the sea. In the morning watch. 
Before the captivity the night was divided by the Israelites into three watches, the 
first watch (ni'lDIi^N IZ^X"1' I^^^- 2 : 19), the middle watch (njI'rTl n'lDIL'i*?' J^^g- 
7 : 19), and the morning watch. It appears that the Israelites had the space of 
two watches at least, or eight hours, for effecting their passage. The Lord looked. 
An unwonted darting of the lightning flash and rumbling of the awful thunder was 
the probable accompaniment of this look. And troubled the host of Mizraim. Flash 
after flash shot through the sky ; peal after peal broke over their heads ; and the 
midnight darkness prevented them from driving their chariots with safety. And he 
took off their chariot wheels. We are not told whether this was done with or without 
special means. But we can readily perceive that the boulders, hollows, and other in- 
equalities of a sea-bed, with the mental confusion arising from the thunder, would 
render the ground, which was passable for footmen with light, very difficult and de- 
structive to the wheels of the Egyptian cars in the dark. The wonders of the few 
preceding weeks recur to their minds, and the conviction again breaks upon them 
with irresistible force, that the Lord fights for Israel. 

It is of course impossible to determine such details of this extraordinary event as are 
not expressly laid down in the narrative. And it is but fair to the narrator to abstain 
from any hypothesis that would not square with its consistency or credibility. We 
have already seen (12 : 37) that the text does not assert or warrant the assumption that 
the whole people, with their flocks and herds, ever assembled at one point. The 
women, children, and servants, accompanied perhaps with a portion of the full-grown 
men for help and protection, continued in charge of their cattle and movable prop- 
erty, and we have no doubt, moved with such speed as they might, in small parties, 
grazing the flocks as they went along toward the wilderness, with which their pastoral 



EXODUS XIV. 26-31. 97 

life made them perfectly familiar. Intelligence of the general movement would be 
convej^ed to these scattered parties in ways that are habitual to all wandering tribes. 
The pillar of fire and cloud would also be conspicuous from afar, and would serve to 
make the ramblers acquainted with the position and progress of the main body of 
full-grown men. When, therefore, the order was given at Etham to turn back and 
encamp at " the mouth of the caves," it referred only to the five or six hundred thou- 
sand men who were marshalled and encamped, and were the object of attack to 
Mizraim and the ground of confidence to their own wives and children. Allowing the 
manhood of Israel to be all present, and assigning a square yard of standing-ground 
to each, we find they can be placed within the square of half a mile ; and, consequently, 
they have scope enough to deploy and encamp within the plain of ten miles square 
lying between the hiUs and the sea. At Suez, which is situated on or by the ruins of 
the ancient Kolzum or KAva/ia, about two miles from the most northern point of the 
shore, the gulf is not more than two thirds of a mile wide. But the position of Suez 
does not correspond with the description of the jjlace of encampment given in the 
text. This seems to have been at the base of Jebel Attakah, where the channel is six 
or seven miles across. If the " dry ground " were a quarter of a mile wide, the Israel- 
ites would form a column a quarter of a mile in rank and a mile in file. Such a body 
might cross a channel of six miles in six hours, and therefore, notwithstanding the 
roughness of a sea-bottom, might easily decamp, set out, and reach the opposite bank 
in eight. By the time they had reached the shore, the pursuers, with their chariots 
of war, would be in the middle of the channel, where the depression of the bottom 
and the difficulty of progress were the greatest. 

26-31. In three more verses the destruction of the Egyptian host is described. 
Stretch out thy hand with the rod of power. The waters shall return upon Mizraim. 
When the power that restrained, for the time, the laws of nature is withdrawn, th© 
waters return to their Avonted level. Three or four fathoms would sufiice to bury all 
the host of Egy]3t in the overwhelming waves. At the appearing of the morning the 
sea returned to its course. At one fell sweep of the mighty waters all the chivalry of 
Mizraim is laid for ever low. A mild message, a manifest sign from heaven, only 
exasperated the pride of Pharoh. Ten awful plagues failed to subdue the obstinacy 
of his heart. A final judgment, of terrific sublimity, terminates his career of presump- 
tion (vs. 29-31). In a style of simple grandeur the Hebrew penman closes his narra- 
tive with a brief summary of Israel's deliverance. And the sons of Israel had icalked. 
This verse marks the contrast between the march of Mizraim and Israel. The Lord on 
that day saved Israel The overwhelming sea effectually, and for ever, arrested the 
pursuit of the Egyptians. The Lord chose this way. If the Israelites had been 
allowed to advance without deviating from their route into the wilderness, he must 
have adopted some other way, equally miraculous, of stopping the progress of their 
foes. Mizraim dead upon the sea-shore. The east wind ceasing on the outstretching of 
Moses's hand, and perhaps even a western breeze springing up, the reaction of the re- 
turning sea cast up the greater part of the Egyptian army, with all its chariots and ac- 
coutrements, on the eastern shore, at the feet of the Israelites. There is the utmost 
probability, therefore, in the statement of Josephus (II. xvi. 6), made before recent 
controversies were mooted, that " on the next day Moses gathered together the weapons 
of the Egj'ptians, which were brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the current of 
the sea, and the force of the winds assisting it ; and he conjectured that this also 
happened by divine providence, that so they might not be destitute of weapons." The 



98 THE SONG OF MOSES. 

great hand which the Lord put forth. To make a hand is one of those phrases on which 
old English and ancient Hebrew coincide. Several salutary consequences of this great 
wonder which the people had seen, are here enumerated. The fear of the Lord, that 
reverential and submissive feeling which is the beginning of wisdom, was called forth 
by the awful grandeur of that scene of judgment and mercy which they witnessed. 
Trust in the Lord was awakened in their breasts by the discriminating result, in which 
an awful doom fell upon their adversaries, and a great salvation was accomplished for 
themselves. That their confidence in Moses should now be established was a neces- 
sary consequence of trust in the Lord. There was at the same time a lesson here for 
all nations that were within hearing to return to the Lord, the God of their being, and 
submit themselves to his rightful authority and proffered mercy. The intelligent 
reader will acknowledge that these verses form a meet finale to the preceding narrative. 

CHAP. XV. — THE SONG OF MOSES. 

3. pji Jail, he who has teen, has manifested his being by illustrious acts of divine 
power. It seems to stand for j-|j-) the perfect of fji,-; as rl^^ for r[S,~| and ^p from 
Cp. This name occurs for the first time after the signs and wonders of the 
divine presence in the land of Egypt ; as the name Ehjeh occurs before these 
extraordinary events. As the latter denotes him who is about to manifest his be- 
ing, so the former seems to indicate him who has manifested his being. As Jeho- 
vah is the self-existent, the self-manifesting Agent, the constant Causer of all 
effects ; so Ehjeh is the prophetic Jehovah, and Jah the historical Jehovah. This 
historical shade of meaning is obvious in Isa. 12 : 2, where the first clause of 
verse 2 is quoted with Jah Jehovah, instead of the simple Jah, and in Isa. 26 : 4, 
where the same combination occurs. This conjunction of the names also teaches 
us that they are not synonymous, but have a perceptible difference of meaning, 
such as we have indicated. In the prayer of Hezekiah (Isa. 38 : 11) we cannot 
mistake the same reference to him who has actually and signally manifested his 
being in the former history of his chosen people, and will yet still further vindi- 
cate his title to this emphatic designation. This name also occuis forty- one times 
in the Psalms, which are full of historical allusions. In Ps. 118 : 14, the present 
clause is again repeated, and the name recurs six times in all. The doxology 
rV^bbn i^ repeated twenty-four times. The name is natural in such a combina- 
tion, as praise often turns upon benefits actually conferred. 

nijJ^ -^^^'^^ 9^of\fy or celebrate. Others, I will cause to dwell. maTce a habita- 
tion for. 

20. ^'''110 Miriam, M-apldix^ Mapla^ exalted, contumacious or bitter. 

Vyj timbrel, the Spanish aduffa or diff ; r. strike. 
23. m^D Mar ah, Mtterness. 
27. D^''N Elim, trees. 

XV. 1. Then sang Moses and the sons of Israel this song unto the Lord, and they 
spake, saying : 

I will sing unto the Loed, for he hath triumphed gloriously : 
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 



EXODUS XV. 99 

2. My strengtli and song is Jah, and he became my salvation : 
He is my God, and I will glorify him ; 

My father's God, and I will exalt him. 

3. The LoED is a man of war, the Lord is his name. 

4. Pharoh's chariots and his army hath he cast into the sea : 
And the choice of his knights are drowned in the Bed Sea. 

5. The depths have covered them : 
They sank into the pools as a stone. 

6. Thy right hand, O Lobd, is glorious in power : 
Thy right hand, O Lokd, crnsheth the enemy. 

7. And in thy great triumph thou overthrowest thy foes : 
Thou sendest forth thy wrath ; it consumes them as stubble. 

8. And with the blast of thy nostrils, the waters were heaved up : 
The floods stood upright as a heap : 

The depths were condensed in the heart of the sea. 

9. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, 

I will divide the spoil : my lust shall be full of them : , 

I will draw my sword ; my hand shall seize them. 

10. Thou blewest with thy blast', the sea covered them : 
They sank as lead in the mighty waters. 

11. Who is like thee among the gods, O Lord ? 
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness. 
Awful in praises, doing wonders ? 

12. Thou stretchedst out thy right hand ; the earth swallowed them : 

13. Thou leddest in thy mercy the people thou hast redeemed : 
Thou guidedst them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. 

14. The nations have heard, they tremble : 
Terror hath seized the inhabitants of Pelasheth. 

15. Then were the dukes of Edom confounded ; 

The chiefs of Moab, trembling took hold of them : 
All the inhabitants of Kenaan melted away. 

16. Horror and trembling shall fall upon them ; 
By thy great arm they shall be still as a stone : 
Till thy people pass over, O Loed ; 

Till the people thou hast purchased pass over. 

17. Thou shalt bring them and plant them in the hill of thine inheritance 
The place of thy dwelling thou hast made, O Loed : 

The sanctuary, O Lord, thy hands have established. 

18. The Loed shall reign for ever and ever. 

19. For the horse of Pharoh went with his chariot and his horsemen into the sea ; 
and the Loed brought back upon them the waters of the sea : and the sons of Israel 
went on the dry ground in the midst of the sea. "f[ 25. 

20. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand ; 
and all the women came forth after her with timbrels and with dances. 21. And 
Miriam answered them. Sing ye to the Loed, for he hath triumphed gloriously ; the 
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. § 16. 

22. And Moses led Israel from the Red Sea ; and they came out into the wilderness 
of Shur : and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23. And 
they came to Marah, and could not drink the water out of Marah, for it was bitter : 
therefore they called the name of it Marah. 24. And the people murmured against 
Moses, saying. What shall we drink ? 25. And he cried unto the Loed, and the Loed 
shewed him a tree, and he cast it into the water, and the water was made sweet : there 
he set them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. 26. And he said, 
If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LoeD thy God, and do that which is 
right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, no 
disease which I put upon Mizraim will I put upon thee ; for I am the Loed that heal- 
eth thee. § 17. 

27. And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water and seventy palm 
trees ; and they encamped there by the water. 

A reverential fear and a grateful trust in the Lord were the sentiments that swelled in 



100 THE SONG OF MOSES. 

the breasts of Israel as they beheld the issue of that awful interposition by which they 
themselves were saved and their enemies destroyed. These emotions find expression 
in the following song of Moses, the highest merit of which is its fitness for the occasion. 
It is a triumphal ode, in which the joyful people celebrate the praises of their divine 
deliverer. They ask not wisely, who demand a long training or a high culture as the 
needful antecedent of a nation's songs. The nation that is capable of achieving or 
estimating noble deeds is wont to contain within itself some voice that gives meet 
utterance to its loftiest emotions in harmonious numbers. The man who was able to 
describe in fitting symmetry of style the ancient ways of God with man was also com- 
petent to express, in the measured flow of winged words, the devout thanksgiving of 
Israel to the God of his salvation. This ode consists of eighteen verses, arranged in 
alternate stanzas of three and two verses. It consequently begins and ends with a 
stanza of three verses. The long stanzas refer to the Lord and his ransomed people, 
and the short stanzas to their defeated or dismayed opponents. If read according to 
this arrangement the import of the ode will come out more finely and strikingly. The 
song, and the circumstances which accompanied its singing, occupy twenty-one verses, 
and the remaining seven verses of the chapter record the journey to and the encamp- 
ment at Elim. 

1-18. The song of Moses. Then sang. On the very occasion when the mind of 
Moses was strung up to the highest pitch under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord 
was this ode composed. Moses and the sons of Israel. The primitive tribes of mankind 
seem to have had a singular aptitude for taking up the strain of emotion, and chant- 
ing it in concert to some simple measure. The harp and the pipe were among the 
earliest discoveries of the race, and these presuppose the modulated cadences of the 
human voice. The untutored ear of the enthusiast arranges the coming words into 
the artless warblings of immortal verse. The fine melody, laden with the noble senti- 
ment, finds an echo in other breasts, and the sublime harmony of sound and feeling 
bursts from the assembled multitude. Music is the handmaid of memory and the 
shadow of reason. It cannot surprise us, then, to find Moses and the sons of Israel 
on the scene and in the hour of so great a deliverance giving utterance to their com- 
mon emotions in the triumphal ode. This song unto the Lord. There wanted but this 
addition, " unto the Lord," to give its true character to the solemn anthem which now 
rose from the many thousands of Israel. Man never rises to the height of his dignity 
until he realizes his relation to his Creator. The following hymn is a model and a 
storehouse of materials for all future songs of praise. 

1-5. These verses contain the first period of song. Three verses .celebrate the 
praises of the Lord ; two dwell on the downfall of his enemies. I xcill sing. Each 
patriot for himself lifts up the general song of praise. Unto the iord, unto God, whose 
character it is to give existence to his purpose and promise. For he hath triumphed 
gloriously ; he has manifested the grandeur of his power to save the oppressed and 
destroy the oppressor. The horse and his rider. This is a general reference to the scene 
of the preceding night, in which the promise-performing character of God was con- 
spicuously displayed. 2. Jah, He who has manifested his being by signal acts of 
power. My strength and song. He has proved himself able to deliver me, and there- 
fore he is the object of my praise. Became my salvation. By actually saving me from 
the might of Egypt, he has earned his title to the name Yah. My God. I have, in 
my own person, experienced his goodness, and with appropriating faith I gratefully 
confess him to be mine. I will glorify him. I will proclaim his excellency. My 



I 



EXODUS XV. 6-15. 101 

father's God, the God of history and of covenant, who chose the head of that peculiar 
people to which I belong. 1 will exalt him, acknowledge his transcendent majesty. 
3. A man of war. A mighty potentate, who encounters and vanquishes all the adver- 
saries of good. The Lord is his name. It is his essential characteristic to be the 
Author and sole Fountain of all existence, and the performer of his promise. Never 
since the beginning of things did this property of God receive a more practical proof 
than in the rescue of Israel from the bondage of Mizraim. After this triad of praise 
follow two verses of song on the downfall of Egypt. 4. PharoK s chariots and his army. 
This verse forms a fine synthetic parallel, in which the second member ascends above 
the first, and so the two constitute a climax. The next verse is a briefer climax of a 
similar kind. 

6-lC. In this second wave of song three verses, again, are dedicated to the Lord, 
and two to the adversary. In vs. 6 we have a parallel, in which the first member 
dwells on the cause and the second on the effect. In vs. 7 the parallel is in the sense 
rather than the form of the words. In vs. 8 three parallel members lend their em- 
phasis to the deed of wonder which they celebrate. The former triplet referred more 
to the character of God ; the present gives more prominence to his procedure. The 
two verses relating to the adversary are full of compressed energy. In vs. 9 six in- 
tents of the enemy are condensed into one short utterance, which may be divided 
into two parts, of three sentences each, according to the punctuation, or into three 
members, of two sentences each, according to the printing. In the next verse of two 
members, the breath of God's mouth is enough, not only to upset all these arrogant 
purposes, but to sink the proud boasters into the depths of the sea. In the former 
couplet the outward array of Pharoh's host was depicted, in the present the inward 
vaunting of their soul is expressed ; in both the same disastrous end is poetically 
recorded. 

11-15. This is the third swell of this sacred anthem, and it is a step in advance of 
the other two. Among the gods, among the mighty ones, the imaginary deities whom 
the nations adore. Glorious in holiness. The characteristics of God here set forth are 
those on which he has been on this occasion distinguished from all conceivable ob- 
jects of comparison. Holiness, or absolute purity of nature, is one of these attributes 
of God, in which he transcends all fallen man's imaginary gods. The gods of Greece, 
Kome, India, and all other heathens, partook of the moral infirmity of their votaries. 
On the contrary, holinsss is the glory, the conspicuous excellence, of the divine 
essence. Awful in praises. Praises are here put for the praiseworthy deeds which 
come from him whose glorj'^ is holiness. In regard to the holiness of these deeds he 
is truly awful, because he taketh vengeance for transgression with as mucli exactness 
as he giveth recompense for obedience. His judgment on the oppressor is as signal 
as his mercy to the Qppressed. Doing wonders. His power is equal to his holiness and 
equity. The proud doer is destined to give way to his will, or perish in the attempt 
to resist it. Holiness and omnipotence mark the administration of God, and hence 
he is awful in praises. In these respects he is incomparably above the so-called gods 
of the heathen. In the two following verses we have the judicial and merciful works 
proclaimed that entitle him to be described as awful in praises. 13. Thou hast guided 
them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. The habitation of his holiness is most simply 
understood in a large sense of the land wherein his people are to dwell. He is their 
God, and will dwell with them, and consecrate the land of their habitation. Into this 
land they may be fairly said to have entered when they crossed the Eed Sea, for its 



102 THE SOKG OF MOSES. 

bounds were to be from the Eed Sea unto the sea of the Philistines (23 : 31). Hence 
the statement "thou hast guided them," in the perfect tense, is literally true. But, 
according to the Hebrew idiom, even that which is purposed and determined in the 
mind and words of the speaker is indicated by the perfect form of the verb (Gen. 
23 : 11), much more that which, in its main substance, has been already effected. 
Now the chief part of their guidance into the holy land was accomplished when they 
were brought out of the bondage and territory of Mizraim. The remainder was as 
sure as if it were already completed in the promise and power of God. This third 
triplet celebrates the triumph of Jehovah. 14, 15. The Egyptian host is at rest for 
ever in the silence of death. The poet's eye, therefore, turns to the surviving nations 
who might throw obstacles in the way of the redeemed people. The nations in gen- 
eral tremble. In particular the Philistines, who bordered on the one entrance into 
the land of holiness, and the Edomites and Moabites, who lay on the other route 
by which it might be entered, were filled with alarm. The inhabitants of Kenaan, 
who were doomed to extirpation because their iniquity was now full, melted away at 
the reports of Mizraim's overthrow. All this is expressed in the high-strung language 
of poetic realism, because that is conceived to have a hold on existence which is the 
inevitable and immediate consequence of things that have already taken place. 

16-18. The bard of emancipated Israel now turns to the future. The further doings 
of the Lord for his people are sketched in a few master touches. First, a sudden and 
overwhelming trepidation unmans the adversary, and the people of the Lord are un- 
opposed in their progress. This was the natural result of the divine interposition, 
and would have been the actual and uniform consequence, but for the unbelief and 
disobedience of the chosen people. 17. Thou shall bring them arid plant them. This is 
a figure taken from a tree planted on a hill. The tree is the holy people (Ps. 1:3); 
the hill is the land of promise, which was not a river valley, like Egypt, but a high 
land lying between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. To the hill of Zion there may 
be a distant allusion. The place for thy dwelling, is the fixed abode where he will con- 
stantly dwell. The sanctuary. In these three parallels we have the climax of country, 
home, and altar. 18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. In this closing verse the 
Lord is announced as perpetual king. The introduction of three dispensations relat- 
ing to man is clearly marked out in Scripture. First, The creation begins an economy 
in which man forms a part of the kingdom of God, until the fall begins the king- 
dom of Satan on the earth. Then the exodus commences a dispensation in which the 
kingdom of God begins to stand out in visible opposition to that of Satan, in the nar- 
row sphere of the seed of Abraham and the land of Kenaan. The kingdom thus rising 
into visibility never again disappears from the earth. Lastly, the birth, death, and 
resurrection of Christ ushers in a dispensation in which the kingdom of God is des- 
tined to penetrate more and more into the usurped kingdom of Satan, until the latter 
be utterly destroyed, and the former be universally, restored on the earth. There is 
a hopeful emphasis in the closing sentence of this sublime anthem. 

19. This verse is a recapitulation of the auspicious occasion on which the above 
hymn was composed. 

20, 21. The refrain of Miriam and the daughters of Israel. It is most probable, as 
we have already seen, that the women and children were principally with the flocks and 
herds, and not with the marshalled host that crossed the Eed Sea. But a joyful re- 
union of as many of them as could leave domestic cares would be sure to take place 
on this joyful occasion. Miriam, and a few of the females of higher rank, may have 



EXODUS XY. 22-26. 103 

even accompanied the host. Miriam is here described as the prophetess, as one who 
was well known to possess the gift of speaking to God for men, or to men for God, in 
prose or in song (Gen. 20 : 7 ; Num. 12 : 2). She is called the sister of Aaron, as he 
and she were older than Moses, and yet at the same time inferior to him in point of 
official rank. Ihok the timhrel, the well-known instrument for the female and the 
dancer. It was composed of a hoop or rim covered with skin, like a drum-head. It 
was sometimes provided with little brass rings or beUs fastened round the rim, which 
added a jingle to its drum-like sound. And with dances. Miriam led the way with 
the timbrel in the dance, and all the women followed. The females danced in a sepa- 
rate choir, and the males also by themselves (2 Sam. 6 : 14), The dance is here used 
for the expression of a sacred joy. The song articulates, the dance gesticulates, the 
emotions of joy and congratulation. And Mb^iam answered them. She led the refrain, 
as Moses seems to have led the song itself. The song begins thus, " I will sing unto 
the Lord " ; the refrain thus, " Sing ye to the Lord." This may have bee a chanted 
after every period of five verses, and at the end of the ode, as a completion of the last 
period. This is much more probable than the introduction of the refrain at the end 
of every verse, especially as the verses are of very unequal length, 

22-26. The journej' from the Eed Sea to Elim. The wilderness of Shur (Gen. 16 : 7). 
Part of this wilderness takes its name from Etham, which was on its border (13 : 20 ; 
Num. 33 : 8). They went three days. If they paused at Sukkoth on the first day after 
the passover night, encamped at Etham on the second, and at Hahiroth on the third, 
crossed the Eed Sea on the night of that day, and then advanced three days into the 
wilderness, they would arrive at Marah on the seventh day of the feast of unleavened 
bread. In the interval of two miles between the shore and Ayun Musa (the wells of 
Moses), they celebrated their deliverance by chanting the song of Moses. The Ayun 
Musa are seven in number, according to Robinson, with many lesser springs around. 
After having refreshed themselves here they may have proceeded some waj^ toward 
Marah, and so performed their first day's journey. The distance from Ayun Musa to 
Ain Hawarah, which is usually identified with Marah, is sixteen and one half hours, 
or about forty miles. The route lies between the Gulf of Suez and the range of Jebel 
or Rahah, Ain Hawarah is a fountain of bitter water about three feet deep, contained 
in a basin of ten feet in diameter, and six feet in depth. The palm and the thorny 
ghurkud are found around it. It still merits the title of Marah, as its waters are bit- 
ter. 24. And the people murmured against Moses. We now hear the first murmur aris- 
ing from the redeemed people. The marshalled host advancing as a regular body felt 
the want of water much more severely than if they had been scattered over the coun- 
try like their wives and children. They had been wont to enjoy ample supplies of 
water in Egj^pt, and to search not in vain for it even in the wilderness, when divided 
into families and small parties. For the wilderness was not unfamiliar to them as 
nomads or roving shepherds, though the present route may not have teen trodden 
by many of them before. The wilderness, it is to be remembered, is land affording a 
scanty pasture, but not fit for tillage (Gen. 21 : 14). With the exception of the Debbet 
er-Ramleh (plain of sand) and a narrow strip along the Mediterranean, the wilderness 
of the peninsula is not a sandy but a gravelly soil, producing a sparse vegetation wher- 
ever there is any moisture. Bub the assembled multitude are grievously distressed 
by the want of water, and do not refrain from expressing their dissatisfaction. Moses, 
however, having travelled this way before, must have been aware that water was near. 
Accordingly, on the evening of the sixth day, or early on the seventh, they arrived at 



104 THE JOUEJS^EY OF ELIM. 

Marah. A new trial of their patience is presented by the bitterness of the water, 
which was the more disagreeable to those who had been accustomed to the sweet 
waters of the Nile. To obviate this inconvenience the Lord pointed out a wood to 
Moses which sweetened the waters. Burckhardt suggests that the berries of the 
ghurkud might have produced this effect. But this fruit ripens in June, two months 
later than the time when the people of Israel arrived at Marah ; and this was a tree 
or species of wood, not a berry. The effect was probably not natural, but miraculous, 
and the kind of wood is unknown. There he made them a statute and an ordinance. If 
this was on the seventh day of the feast of unleavetied bread, and therefore a Sabbath 
of holy convocation, in which, however, extraordinary works of necessity and mercy 
had to be done, we can see how opportune was the time for making a statute and an 
ordinance. The slaying of the passover was a solemn entering into covenant with the 
Lord, and the last day of the feast was the completion of this act. They had now also 
gone three days into the wilderness, and therefore arrived at the place and time for 
performing the proposed sacrifice unto the Lord their God, as he should command 
them (8 : 27). A statute (ppi) is a form of words engraven on a hard substance, such 
as stone, and therefore a fixed edict or decree, binding the people to follow the Lord. 
An ordinance (^^9"^;^) is a judicial sentence or authoritative injunction, affirming the 
duty of the joeople, and accompanied with an intimation of the good and evil conse- 
quences of obedience and disobedience. The solemn consent of the people to this 
ordinance was given on this appropriate occasion. A similar transaction is recorded 
when Joshua renewed the covenant with the people (Josh. 24 : 25). The substance 
of the statute and the ordinance is evidently contained in the following verse. The 
general obligation only to obey the Lord in all things is here tendered and accepted. 
The special terms of the divine law are to be communicated on a future occasion. 
And there he proved them. The want of water for three days, and the bitterness of the 
water when at length found, were the touchstone to test their hearts, to discover what 
qualities or dispositions were within, to try whether they had the beginning of faith 
and patience. 26. If thou loilt diligently hearken. Here the condition of perfect obedi- 
ence to the occasional, as well as to the stated, commands of God, is explicitly laid 
down. No disease. The reward of obedience is expressly announced, and the con- 
sequence of disobedience not obscurely intimated. The very blessings of the Egyp- 
tians were turned into curses on account of their disobedience. The sweet waters of 
the Nile were changed into blood. On the other hand the disadvantages the Israelites 
might meet with on the way would be converted into blessings if they were obedient 
to the voice of the Lord. The bitter waters of Marah are made sweet. This single 
instance indicated the rule of all God's future dealings, and so furnished the test by 
which their character was to be proved. I am the Lord that healeth thee. He had pre- 
served them from the diseases of Egypt, the death of the first-born, and the destruc- 
tion which overtook the Egyptians. So would he be their deliverer in every trouble 
which should befall them. Thus Marah, with its bitter waters, sweetened even the 
commencement of that testing process which this people had to undergo in the 
wilderness. 

27. Elim. This is identified with "Wady Ghurundel, which is two hours or a few 
miles from Marah. The twelve springs and seventy palms made it a most delightful 
halting-place for the thirsting host. " Wady Ghurundel is fringed with trees and 
shrubs, forming a charming oasis. Here are the stunted palms, with their hairy 
trunks and dishevelled branches ; here, too, are the feathery tamarisks, with gnarled 



EXODUS XVI. 105 

boughs ; and here is the acacia, with its gray foliage and bright blossoms, tangled by- 
its desert growth into a thicket' ' (Porter, in Murray' s Hand-book of Syria and Pales- 
tine). This refreshing valley is but a step from Marah, and may be regarded as the 
first resting-place of the sons of Israel after their departure from Egypt. Here, accord- 
ingly, they remained for the space of three weeks (16 : 1), during which they had 
leisure to accommodate themselves in some measure to desert life, to the habits of 
freedom and independence, and, above all, to the solemnities of a people reconciled 
to God and resolved to walk in newness of life. At this point, therefore, the chapter 
appropriately closes, 



X. JOURNEY FROM ELIM TO SINAI.— Ex. 16-18. 

CHAP. XVI. — QUAILS AND MANNA. 

1. ^"iQ I. Sin, clay (Ges.). Pelusium or Tine (mud-town ?). II. Sin, hush, thorn. 
The wilderness described in the present passage. 

"ijiC? Sinai, thorny, scraggy (Meyer), the mountain on which the law was pro- 
claimed. This name is apparently connected with the preceding. It is probable 
that both belong to the same root with piJC ^ species of thorn (3 : 2). 

13. i'7^ quail, opTvyonrj-pa (Sept.), mother of quails, rail or quail king. Not 
locusts, as Patrick supposes, since they are nowhere else called by this name ; nor 
the Kata of the Arabians, a kind of partridge which abounds in Arabia and Syria. 

14. r^cni^^^^ (Ges.). run, cast, freeze (Meyer). 

15. 1^3 manna; r. •jj^ divide, separate. Hence it means the secretion, or sweet 
gum exuding in shining drops on the twigs and branches of the turfa or tamarisk 
when punctured, it is supposed, by the coccus manniparus. This is now called 
7}ian assama, the gift of heaven, by the Arabs, according to the common habit of 
ascribing a later and more familiar meaning to the w^ord than that which it origi- 
nally possessed. It falls on the leaves, twigs, or stones beneath, and has to be 
gathered before it is melted by the sun. It is then cleansed, boiled, strained, and 
put into leathern bottles, and keeps for a long time. This manna is not peculiar 
to Arabia nor to the tamarisk ; is produced in small quantities in wet seasons, and 
nearly disappears in dry ones ; is gathered in the month of June, and is used only 
as a condiment with the unleavened bread or pottage of the country. 

23. J^'j^^lL' ^'^^^5 cessation from lalor. The word is found only in Exodus and 
Leviticus, and shows no change of vowel. Here only is it before n^ti'. It is also 
without the article, simply because it is either the predicate or in the construct 
state. Hence there is no ground for the supposition that its indefinite form 
marks the introduction of the Sabbath as a new thing hitherto unknown. 

31. .n^)^ Kopcov (Sept.), coriander. Ar/v-noi oxi-ov, 'Aij)poi yo'u\ quotes Celsius from 
the annotator of Dioscorides, when speaking of this plant. ToiS is evidently the 
Heb, "i^. Coriandrum sativum is an umbelliferous plant, the leaves of which are 
used in soups and salads. Its seeds are globular, about the size of a pepper-corn, 
and of a grayish color. They form an agreeable spice, employed by confection- 



106 QUAILS AlsD MAi^isTA. 

ers, druggists, and distillers. This plant is common in Egypt and other parts of 
Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, and the south of Europe, and is cultivated in some 
parts of England. 

36. "^j^y sJieaf of corn. In the present chapter alone, omer, a dish or other vessel 
containing probably the grain obtained from the sheaf, and therefore always 
nearly of the same size, and so fitted to be a rough measure. It is to be distin- 
guished from the homer (-^.j^n) which contained ten ephahs, and therefore one 
hundred omers. 

XVI. 1. And aU the assembly of the sons of Israel set out from Elim, and came 
unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of 
the second month of their departure out of the land of Mizraim. 2. And all the 
assembly of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 
3. And the sons of Israel said unto them, AVould that we had died by the hand of 
the LoKD in the land of Mizraim, when we sat by the fleshpot, when we ate bread to 
the full I For ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to slay all this congrega- 
tion with hunger. § 18. 

4. Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain for you bread from heaven, 
and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them 
whether they will walk in my law or not. 5. And it shall be on the sixth day that 
they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they 
gather daily. 6. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the sons of Israel, At even, 
then shall ye know that the Lokd hath brought you out of the land of Mizraim. 
7. And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Loed, since he lieareth your 
murmurings against the Lord : and what are we that ye murmur against us ? 8. And 
Moses said. When the Lord giveth you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the 
morning to the full, since the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur 
against him, Avhat then are we ? Your murmurings are not against us, but against 
the Lord. 9. And Moses said unto Aaron, Say unto all the assembl}^ of the sens of 
Israel, Draw near before the Lord, for he hath heard your murumurings. 10. And it 
came to pass, when Aaron spake unto all the assembly of the sons of Israel, that they 
turned toward the wilderness ; and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the 
cloud. «^ 26. 

11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12. I have heard the murmurings of the 
sons of Israel : speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye shall eat flesh, and 
in the morning ye shall be filled with bread ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord 
your God. 

13. And it came to pass at even that quails came up, and covered the camp ; and in 
the morning the dew lay round about the camp. 14. And the dew that lay went up ; 
and behold upon the face of the wilderness something fine and crisp, fine as the rime 
on the ground. 15. And the sons of Israel saw it, and said one to another. It is 
manna. For they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, it is the bread 
which the Lord hath given you to eat. 16. This the thing which the Lord hath com- 
manded ; Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer to the poll for the 
number of your persons ; take ye every man for them that are in his tent. 17. And 
the sons of Israel did so, and they gathered, some more, some less. 18. And they 
meted it v/ith the omer ; and he that gathered much had nothing over, and, he that 
gathered little had no lack : they gathered every man according to his eating. 19. And 
Moses said unto them. Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20. And they heark- 
ened not unto Moses ; and some left of it till the morning, and it bred worms and 
stank : and Moses was wrath with them. 21. And they gathered it every morning, 
every man according to his eating : and when the sun waxsd hot it melted. 

22. And it came to pass on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, 
two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the assembly came and told Moses. 23. 
And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath spoken. To-morrow is the 
rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord : bake that which ye will bake, and seethe that 
which ye will seethe, and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the 
morning. 24. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade ; and it did not 



EXODUS XVI. 1-3. 107 

stink, neither vras there any worm therein. 25. And Moses said, Eat it to-day, for 
to-day is the Sabbath unto the Loed : to-day ye shall not find it in the field. 26. Six 
days ye shall gather it ; and on the seventh day, the Sabbath, on it there shall be none, 
27, And it came to pass on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, 
and they found none. § 19. 

28. And the Loed said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments 
and my laws ? 29. See ye that the Loed hath given you the Sabbath ; therefore he 
giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days : abide ye every man in his place ; 
let no man come out of his place on the seventh day. 30. And the people rested on 
the seventh day. 31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna : and it 
was like coriander seed, white ; and the taste of it was like a cake made with honey. 
32. And Moses said. This is the thing which the Loed hath commanded, Fill an omer 
of it to be kept for your generations, that they m&y see the bread wherewith I fed you 
in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Mizraim. 33. And 
Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put therein an omer full of manna, and lay it 
up before the Loed to be kept for your generations. 34. As the Lord commanded 
Moses,, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. 35. And the sons of Israel 
ate manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited ; they ate manna until they 
came to the border of the land of Kenaan, 36. And the omer was'the tenth part of 
the ephah. 

The subsection containing this chapter and the following two records the important 
particulars of the journey from Elim to Sinai. In Numbers 33 : 10-15 are enumerated 
five stations between these points, of which only the second, the "Wilderness of Sin, 
and the last, Kephidim, are mentioned here. The present object of the historian is 
to notice the provision, protection, and government of the people in their wanderings. 
They were provided with quails, manna, and water from the rock ; they were pro- 
tected from the enemy in the victory they gained over Amalek ; and they were gov- 
erned by Moses, with the advice of Jethro, his father-in-law. The mixture of evil with 
good whyjh is displayed in the conduct of the people, is what might be expected from 
a tribe of fallen men, long corrupted by the habits of bondage, under a nation igno- 
rant of the God, or the law of truth, when they are but recently brought under the 
influence of the Spirit of truth, freedom, and holiness. 

1-3. The second ground of complaint among the multitude is want of food. Any 
supplies they may have brought from Egypt were how exhausted. All the assembly 
of the sons of Israel. The difficulties of procuring water and food were enormously 
increased to a collected host. The wives and children who were scattered over the 
country, as the Bedawin or wanderers of the desert, were able to make some shift for 
themselves, from the smallness of their parties and their acquaintance with a desert 
life. But the marshalled multitude in a desert, without a well-arranged commissariat, 
could only subsist by supernatural means. And came into the wilderness of Sin. 
From Num. 30 : 10 it appears that when they left Elim their first encampment was by 
the Bed Sea. Proceeding at present from Wady Ghurundel, in two and a quarter 
hours, we come upon Wady Useit, or Waseit, in which are a few brackish springs, 
with groves of palms and tamarisks. In four hours more we arrive at the point where 
Wady Shubeikeh and Wady Humr unite to form Wady Taiyibeh. Thence to the 
plain on the shore of the Bed Sea is a distance of two hours. This is probably the 
place of encampment by the Bed Sea, where the people might have a supply of 
water, and obtain a last view of the land of Egypt, and at the same time catch a 
glimpse of the mountain peaks toward which they were journeying. Over the head- 
land of Zelima, two hours farther, lies the plain Murkhah, where there is also a foun- 
tain. We may suppose the main body of the six hundred thousand sons of Israelites 



108 THE ROUTE TO SI>^AI. 

spreading themselves over all the interval between Taiyibeh and Murkhah by the Ked 
Sea. And went unto the Wilderness of Sin. The next station mentioned in Num. 33 : 11 
is in the Wilderness of Sin. This region is said to be between Elim and Sinai. It is 
more narrowly limited by the station at the sea and Kephidim (17 : 1). And though 
the station at the entrance into this wilderness is the only one mentioned here, yet 
we know from Num. 33 : 12-14 that two other stations, Dophkali and Alush, were 
occupied in it. Among the three stations in this extensive range of desert at least a 
week seems to have been spent. The tradition that they arrived here on a Sabbath 
coincides well with the details of the narrative. Yet the site of the present station 
is by no means determined. From the Red Sea at Taiyibeh three routes to Sinai are 
possible : one southern, by the barren plain el-Kaa, lying along the Gulf of Suez, and 
up the Wady Hibran ; another intermediate, by the Wadys Shellal, Mukatteb, Feiran, 
and Sheikh ; and a third north of both, by the Wady Humr, the Debbet er-Ramleh, 
and the Wady Sheikh. The intervening stations are the Wilderness of Sin, Dophkah, 
Alush, and Eephidim, all of which being unknown fail to give us any aid in deter- 
mining the route actually pursued. The first route, however, extending to nearly one 
hundred miles, while the others are about eighty miles, may be rejected as too long 
for five days' march. If the Wilderness of Sin be the Plain of el-Kaa, the route must 
have been through the Wadys Mukatteb and Feiran, as this alone of the remaining 
two touched on that plain. If it be the Debbet er-Ramleh, the route must have been 
the most northern of the three. Wady esh-Sheikh forms the closing part of both 
these routes. The northern one seems the most open for a large body of men. The 
intermediate one is that preferred by most scholars. It merely touches upon el-Kaa 
at Ain el-Murkhah. Its main attractions lie in the Wady Mukatteb and Wady Feiran. 
The former, the written valley, is remarkable for the number of its rude sculptures, 
consisting of inscriptions in the Nabathaean, Greek, and Latin characters, and figures 
of men, animals, and some other objects, on the flat surfaces of the freestone rocks of 
which the valley is composed. But these, though noticed by Cosmas as early as 535 
A.c, are not yet proved to have any connection with the Israelites, and moreover are 
not confined to the Wady Mukatteb. Wady Feiran contains the ruins of Feiran, the 
Faran of early Christian times, the resort of pilgrims, and the see of a bishop as early 
as the fourth century. Hence many have been disposed to find here the Paran of 
Scripture, and thus establish at least one identification of names in this region. But 
(1) the narrative contains no mention of Paran ; (2) the people did not reach the 
wilderness of Paran till they had travelled at least five days' journey in a northerly 
direction from Sinai (Num. 10 : 12, 33 ; 11 : 3, 35 ; 12 : 16) ; and (3) the two occur- 
rences of Mount Paran (Deut. 33 : 2 ; Hab. 3 : 3) connect it with Sinai not more 
closely than Seir and Teman, and therefore afford a very precarious ground for 
identification. These two passages, however, may have led to a patristic identifica- 
tion of Mount Paran with Serbal, the lofty five-peaked mountain south of Wady 
Feiran. But even if this be Paran, the omission of so remarkable a name in the 
narrative, both here and in Num. 30, is strongly against the hypothesis that Israel 
travelled by this route. As there is nothing in the text demanding this middle route, 
so there are some considerations that seem not unfavorable to the one more to the 
north. (1.) There is but one station on the Red Sea. If the line of march had lain 
in el-Kaa, there would have been more than one on the shore. (2.) The Wilderness 
of Sin is said to be between Elim and Sinai ; which agrees very well with Debbet er- 
Eamleh, but can only be applied in a very loose sense to el-Kaa. (3.) The marching 



EXODUS XYI. 1-3. 109 

host would be kept as near the \\^andering families and flocks as possible. This is 
favorable to the line farthest north, and decidedly against that by el-Kaa. For the 
■wanderers would go as little toward the south as possible, seeing they were eventually 
to turn to the north. They would linger about the wadys, where water and fodder 
were accessible. We can imagine some of them in the Wadys Mukatteb and Feiran, 
and still more in the Wady Wutah, and along the slopes of Jebel et-Tih, north of the 
Debbet er-Kamleh. It would be very desirable that the collective body that formed 
the centre of the horde should be somewhere between the wandering parties of 
women and young people, and therefore in the south border of Debbet er-Eamleh. 
(4.) The Wilderness of Sin would then be the Debbet er-Kamleh, or " Sandy Plain," 
the first part of which, the Debbet en-Nusb, would be reached in one day's march 
from Wady Taiyibeh, and might be left in another march by penetrating into the 
system of wadys that lie on its south side. (5.) The stations Dophkah and Alush, 
which possibly correspond with Wadys Mureikhy and Akhdar, present no notable 
feature or incident, and are therefore omitted in the present narrative, a circumstance 
not so likely in Wadys Mukatteb and Feiran. (6. ) The route by Debbet er-Eamleh 
is the more open and easy for a large body of men. There are some very difficult 
passes in the other route, which render it passable only for small companies at a 
time, and, therefore, insuperable for six hundred thousand men in five days' march. 
For all these reasons we must reject the route by el-Kaa, unless we are prepared to 
take Jebel Um-Shaumer, the most southern peak of the mountain group, for Sinai. 
And for some of them, chiefly (2) and (5), we are strongly inclined to prefer the 
northern route, as the most probable. We are the more contented to rest in this 
conclusion when we imagine the Wadys Mukatteb and Feiran, and all others lying 
either south or north of Debbet er-Kamleh, abundantly peopled with the women and 
young people under twenty years of age, who are disannexed from the central host. 
It is extremely desirable that these, who are nearly double the number of the full- 
grown men, should have as much scope as possible in the environs of the main body, 
for the sustenance of themselves, and their flocks and herds. We do not feel at lib- 
erty to confine them even to the south of Jebel et-Tih, the great cretaceous range, 
running in an east-south-eastern direction, and separating et-Tih, or the wilderness 
of Paran, from the mountainous region of the south. For these roaming companies 
could only in a very limited degree partake of the miraculous supplies, especially of 
water, afforded to the congregated host, and must therefore have an ample range for 
the water and herbage that will meet the most pressing wants of their numerous cattle. 
Assuming, then, that Debbet er-Ramleh is the Wilderness of Sin, we ascend Wady 
Humr, which, according to Kobinson, is broad, and opens out into a large plain, 
with another broad wady coming into it from the east. The plain is contracted by 
Sarbut el-Jemel into a wady, where the limestone gives place to the sandstone. A 
broad belt of sandstone runs between the limestone of Jebel et-Tih, and the granite 
of the Jebel et-Tur, to which Sinai belongs. After passing this wady, which contains 
some specimens of the rock sculptures, the road again emerges on a broad plain 
sprinkled with herbage. Somewhere about the entrance of Wady en-Nusb, in which 
is a fine spring not far from the route, we may suppose the host to have encamped in 
the Wilderness of Sin. On the fifteenth day of the second month of their departure, that is, 
of the year of their departure. A full month, therefore, after they left Kameses, they 
reached the Wilderness of Sin, with resources completely exhausted. 
2, 3. All the assembly. This refers, we conceive, to the six hundred thousand men of 



110 ' THE PROMISE OF BREAD. 

the marshalled host. Murmured against Moses and Aaron. The want of food now 
began to be sharply felt. They saw nothing but starvation before them, and they 
regarded Moses and Aaron as the authors of their present strait. 

4-10. He that destroyed the harvest of Egypt by the hail and the locust now engages 
to rain bread for them from heaven. Gather a certain rate every day. This was to be 
daily bread. That 1 may prove them. As the abundance of Egypt vanished away be- 
fore the indignation of the Lord, so the very barrenness of the wilderness gave way to 
the bountiful hand of the Lord, supplying their daily wants. In all this he was con- 
tinuing the process of their probation. Their patience, faith, dependence, and 
thankfulness of spirit were constantly put to the test in their present experience. 
5. On the sixth day double allowance shall be gathered. This is one element in the 
miraculous nature of the present supply. They shall prepare, measure, pound, or 
grind the whole quantity gathered (Num. 11 : 8). It may also extend to the cooking 
(5 : 23). 6, 7. Moses and Aaron now communicate the benignant design of the Lord 
to the people. Then shall ye knoio. By experience of his wonder-working power they 
would have a new proof that he had brought them out of Egypt. They seemed to 
forget his wonders in Egypt, when they ascribed their present position to Moses and 
Aaron. Then ye shall see the glory of the lord. This is the parallel of the preceding 
sentence. The glory of the Lord is seen when his hand is put forth for the protection 
of his people by the discomfiture of their enemies, and for their preservation by 
the preternatural bestowment of the means of life. Since he heareth your murmurings. 
In his long-suffering mercy he will give another proof of his presence and love, that 
his people may at length lay aside their impatience and unbelief, and feel that their 
murmuring is really against the Lord, and not against the mere executors of his will. 
8. Moses alone now explains to the people what the Lord is about to do. 9. He then 
directs Aaron to summon the people before the Lord, that is, to draw near to the 
place where the pillar of cloud and fire was. 10. The people at the word of Aaron 
turned toward the wilderness. The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. Such a 
dazzling brightness burst through the cloud as manifested the immediate presence of 
the Lord. 

11, 12. The Lord, having now manifested his glorious presence in the cloud to the 
beholding people, charges Moses with a message to the people, promising relief to 
their hunger. Between the evenings, from the beginning of the evening before sunset 

' to the end of twilight (see on Gen. 1 : 4). Ye shall know that 1 am Jehovah your God. 
The instruction of his people is a primary object with God. He has gifted them with 
reason, and he expects to be served with the understanding and the will. This can 
be done only so far as they know him to be God, the Eternal and Almighty, to be 
Jehovah, the Creator and Upholder of all things, and to be their God, to whom they 
are reconciled through his. pardoning, redeeming, and quickening mercy. It is man- 
ifest that every event in his gracious dealings with them is a step in the process of 

' their spiritual training. This alone will explain the various preparatory steps in this 
miraculous interposition. He first allows the people to feel their need (1:3); then 
he intimates his intention to Moses ; then Moses and Aaron admonish the people ; 
then Moses announces the promise of food ; then Moses directs Aaron to call the 
people before the Lord ; then the Lord, manifesting his presence, recapitulates his 
message to Moses, and lastly performs his promise. 

13-21. The performance of the promise is now recorded. Quails, literally " the 
quail" in a collective sense, a well-known species of migrating bird, that passes the 



EXODUS XVI. 13-21. Ill 

winter in inner Africa and the summer in the northern regions. These are brought 
in great numbers to the camp of Israel, when, being wearied with their long flight, 
they are easily taken and killed. The miracle consisted in bringing the quails at the 
stated time to the required place, and in sufficient numbers for the supply of a large 
host, and in announcing beforehand their arrival. 

Came up. Came up on the wing, and therefore made their appearance from a 
lower ground in the air. And filled the camp, alighted on the area occupied by the 
wide-spread host. The deio lay. Literally, there was a lying or layer of dew, a de- 
posit on the surface from the surrounding atmosphere. We say a fall of dew. The 
former is the more exact figure. 

14, 15. The dew that lay icent up. A natural figure for the evaporation of the dew 
that had fallen during the night. Something fine and crisp, fine as the rime on the ground. 
This indicates a small grain, scaled or hardened after the drying up of the moisture. 
The smallness or fineness of the grain is compared with that of the rime or hoar- 
frost on the ground. We shall have other qualities of the manna as w^e proceed (vs. 
31). It is manna. The original words, ^•i,-^ "ty^ are generally rendered as in the 
margin of our authorized version, "What is this?" But the former rendering ap- 
pears to be demanded by the following reasons : (1.) " What is this" is expressed by 
a different phrase, s*ln"niO' ^^ ^^^ TiQ^t sentence. The Masoretes favor this distinc- 
tion, by pointing ^^,-| p, not j^'^n"]D' ^^ ^^ ^^^- ^ • ^^- (^•) "^^^ explanatory sen- 
tence, " for they wist not what it was," is superfluous, if the latter meaning of ^]j^^ -t^^ 
betaken. For the question, "What is this?" implies that they knew not what it 
was. The presence of this sentence, therefore, suggests another meaning for the 
previous words. (3.) The former meaning gives a significance to the explanatory 
clause. The people say one to another, in an inquiring way, "It is manna." By a 
common law of analogy or conversational generalization they give it the name of a 
comparatively scanty product of nature, to vv^hich it bears a considerable resemblance 
in locality, color, form, and perhaps taste, though it differs in origin, season, quan- 
tity, and other properties. They do this in the ignorance of the moment. This is 
what is expressed by the explanatory clause, " for they wist not what it was." They 
had no name for a new product, and they take the common method of calling it by 
the name of that which most nearly resembled it. Moses does not reject the name ; 
but proceeds to explain the nature and origin of that which they had so named pro- 
visionally. It is the bread. Such is its nature. Wliich the Lord hath given you. Such 
is its origin. 

The natural manna is gathered early in June, a month later than the present time, 
and in small quantity, not sufficient for the chief support of life. The siipernatural 
manna was gathered every day, Sabbaths excepted, throughout the whole year, and in 
quantities sufficient for the main sustenance of a nation of at least one million six 
hundred thousand souls during a period of forty years. 

16-21. The manner of gathering the manna is here prescribed. Every man accord- 
ing to his eating, according to the number of his family. This is explained by the fol- 
lowing words. An omer (see vs. 36) to the poll/ for the number of your persons. This 
was the rate at which each gatherer was to aim. For them that are in his tent. The 
tent (Gen. 4 : 20) is an awning or outside covering of any kind over the wooden poles 
or framework which formed the principal feature of the booth. The tent was older 
than the deluge, and the phrase, " them that are in his tent," indicates a man's 



112 THE MANNA. 

family or company, whatever might be the covert under which they took shelter in 
the desert. It does not therefore determine that all or any were actually possessed of 
fully-equipped tents of hair-canvas, but that in general each had a family or company 
with which he tabernacled as best he could in this temporary mode of life. 17, 18. 
And they gathered some more, some less. Every man endeavored to gather at least as 
much as would serve his need, but some were more successful than others in the un- 
measured results. And he that gathered much had nothing over. K the grasping hand 
of covetousness or a more favorable ground occasioned a greater gathering by some 
than by others, yet was the omer filled for each, and neither more nor less. A potent 
argument to teach them, if they would learn, that all men are equal in the sight of 
our Heavenly Father. There was a miracle here, take it how we will ; and it would 
, be the height of absurdity to meddle with the natural meaning of the words in order 
to give a simpler form to the miraculous act. He that distributed his bounty here 
could equalize each single gathering as easily as the collected whole with the ration 
allotted to each. 19-21. Let no man leave of it till the morning. Another mighty 
leveller for all the selfishness of pride. No store is to be accumulated. It was in vain 
that any one disobeyed this command. That which was reserved till the second day 
became putrid. This in itself was miraculous, as the natural manna kept for a con- 
siderable time. And when the sun waxed hot, it melted. The portion that was ungathered 
in this manner disappeared. 

22-27. Not only the supply, but the manner of it, is miraculous. On five days a 
quantity sufficient for one day, on the sixth enough for two days, and on the seventh 
none whatever is found. All the rulers of the assembly. These are the heads of tribes, 
and of fathers' houses (Num. 3 : 24, 30, 35). Came and told Moses. Moses had not 
commanicated the intimation that on the sixth day they would receive a double 
supply. The arrangement was a deviation from the law of nature, which knows noth- 
ing of a seventh day's rest. The phenomenon, therefore, demanded an explanation. 
To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sahhath to the Lord. The word "rest" is here put 
first, because the thing to be noted is the cessation of labor on the morrow as a reason 
for the double supply on the sixth day. It does not appear that the rulers were un- 
acquainted with the Sabbath. But they had no experience hitherto of a special pro- 
vision on the Lord's part for its convenient observance. In the annual return of the 
ordinary harvest a store was laid up for the year from which they could supply them- 
selves for the Sabbath. But now they were nourished from day to day. Hence the 
necessity of a double ration on the sixth day, if the Sabbath was to be duly kept. It 
is possible that the Sabbath was imperfectly observed, or altogether neglected, during 
the bondage of Israel in Egypt, though there is no positive indication of this in the 
text. That it should have been forgotten, hov^ever, is contrary to the traditionary 
customs of many other nations besides the Jews. Traces of the septenary division of 
time have been found among the Egyptians, Hindoos, Chinese, and Peruvians. From 
the first of these it is said (Dion Cassius) to have passed to the Greeks. Eomans, and 
the Teutonic nations. If it has left its mark on these scattered Gentiles, much more 
must it have been remembered among the chosen people, who were so near the origin 
of mankind, and seem to have possessed a continued thread of well-authenticated 
tradition. All that remaineth over, after partaking for the day, of the two omers which 
had been prepared for food in whatever manner they pleased. Lay up for you, ready 
for eating on the following day. Hence Moses says on the Sabbath (vs. 25), not 
" bake or seethe," but " eat it." 24. It did not stink. That it should have become 



EXODUS XVI. 28-31. 113 

putrid the day after being cooked is no new difficulty, when we are in the region of 
the miraculous. 25, 26. Directions are now explicitly given regarding the days on 
which the manna was to be gathered. 27. Some of the people, from inadvertence or 
ignorance of the directions given, make the experiment, and find the prophet's word 
good. 

28-31. The transgressors are now rebuked through Moses for their heedless dis- 
obedience. My commandments and my laws (see on Gen. 26 : 5). The former probably 
refer to the special regulations concerning the manna ; the latter to the standing 
institution of the Sabbath. 29. The Lord hath given you the Sabbath. There is in the 
previous passage no express giving of the Sabbath, but rather a tacit assumption 
that it has been already given.* This is in accordance with its institution at the 
creation of man recorded in Gen. 2 : 1-3. It is here to be noted that the Sabbath is 
a gift to man, who is doomed to labor in his fallen state (Gen. 3 : 17-19). A periodi- 
cal recurrence of relief from labor and leisure for fellowship with God and with one 
another is a precious boon of heaven to the toil-worn in body or mind. Abide ye every 
man in his place. Come not out for any business, such as gathering manna. They 
were at liberty to go abroad for any purpose accordant with the Sabbath, such as 
attendance on the holy convocation (Lev. 23 : 3) ; Acts 15 : 21). Even works of 
necessity or mercy, that cannot be put off till the next day, are not regarded as a real 
breach of the Sabbath (Matt. 12 : 1-13 ; Mark 2 : 23-28). There seems to have been 
no limit to the distance to be walked on the Sabbath beyond that of convenience, 
leisure from business, and release from toil. The Kabbinical rule of later times, 
however, was that a Sabbath day's journey should consist of two thousand cubits, 
about five or six furlongs. This was imagined to be the distance of the remotest part 
of the camp from the tabernacle. It was the distance of the Mount of Olives from 
Jerusalem (Acts 1 : 12). 30. Bested, IDSiyV •'^^P* ^^® Sabbath, or day of rest. 

31. We have already seen that the manna from heaven (Ps. 78 : 24 ; 105 : 40) was 
like a fine grain, as small as the hoar-frost. We are now informed that it was like 
coriander seed in form, of a whitish color, and of the taste of a cake made with 
honey. It could be also baked or seethed ; and this is in accordance with the state- 
ment in Num. 11 : 7, 8 : *' And the manna was like coriander seed, and the color 
thereof as the color of bdellium. And the people went about and gathered, and 
ground it in the mill, or beat it in the mortar, and baked it in the pan, and made 
cakes of it ; and the taste of it was as the taste of oil cates." From the description 
given above, it will be apparent that the miraculous manna bore such a resemblance 
to the natural product so called, as to lead to the employment of a name common to 
both. But the natural manna differed from the supernatural in its chemical ingredi- 
ents ; the former being of a gummy or resinous nature, and the latter containing 
a farinaceous element. Hence the latter could be ground and baked into bread or 
boiled into pottage, for which the former was only a condiment. The natural manna 
also could be kept for years ; the supernatural became putrid in a night. Other 
differences have been noted on verses 14, 15. The taste of the *' cake made with 
honey" was probably much the same as that of the " oil cates." But the one may 
refer, as some think, to the taste of the raw and the other to that of the baked manna. 
The color of bdellium when fresh and pure was probably whitish. 

* This is, of course, a disputed matter. But it is interesting to notice that the best German 
authorities now take the ground here assumed. Kurtz argues that the Sabbath was instituted before 
the law, but received, for the first time, a legal character by the revelation at Sinai.— J, H. 



114 THE MANNA. 

32-36. This great gift of bread from heaven to the chosen people during forty years 
in the wilderness was worthy to be had in perpetual remembrance. It was in itself a 
marvellous boon ; it taught the grand lesson of entire dependence upon the Almighty 
Father of all ; and it was a striking type of the bread of God, which cometh down 
from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Hence the command to lay up an 
omer-full of the manna to be kept for the generations to come. 33. A pot. The word 
in the original occurs only here, and probably denotes a more permanent vessel than 
a mere basket. In the Sept. we find ardjuvov xpvoovv, a golden jar, a rendering 
which is adopted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (9 : 4). Before the Lord. This is ex- 
plained in the next verse by the phrase, " before the testimony." This testimony of 
God to the great principles of morality was the law, written on the tables of stone, 
and deposited in the ark (25 : 16), thence called the ark of the testimony. " Before 
the testimony," therefore, means in the ark of the testimony (Heb. 9 : 4), whence, 
however, it had disappeared in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 8:9). 34. So Aaron 
laid it up. This act of Aaron must have been performed after the ark was made and 
the tables of stone were deposited in it. The record of it, though not written till 
after these events, is appended here to complete all that is necessary to be told con- 
cerning the manna. 35. Ate manna forty years. We are told in Josh. 5 : 12 that the 
manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the new corn of the land, which 
was on the morrow after the passover. As the manna commenced on or after the 
fifteenth day of the second month, and therefore a month after the passover in Egypt, 
the people ate of the manna forty years, wanting a month. Until they came to a land 
inhabited. In contrast with the wilderness, in which were only wanderers, and not 
settled inhabitants. This verse determines, in a general way, the place as well as the 
time of the ceasing of the manna, more widely in the phrase quoted, and more strictly 
in the words " until they went to the border of the land of Kenaan." There can be 
no doubt that the people had in most places, and especially when they had made the 
conquest of Persia, some ordinary supplies of food. But those who needed would 
still go out to gather, until the supply of the new corn of the land satisfied the de- 
mands of all. This verse was no doubt added when Moses was revising and com- 
pleting his materials for Exodus, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho 
(Num. 36 : 13), or in the valley over again Beth-peor (Deut. 3 : 29). The sentence is 
evidently such as might be written by a prophet who was aware that the forty years 
of wilderness life were drawing to a close, and perceived the supply of manna waning 
to its end, according as the natural products of the land were approaching to a full 
satisfaction of the people's wants. 

36. The omer. This name of a measure seems to have gone out of use in the space 
of forty years. Moses, therefore, in the revising of the book of Exodus at the end of 
that period, takes occasion to add that the omer was the tenth part of an ephah. 
Josephus (Antiq. viii. 2. 11) assumes the bath or ephah to be equal to 72 xestai. Now, 
it was estimated by Bertheau that a bath or 

metretes = 12 choes = 8,6696 gallons, 

chous = 6 xestai = .7225 '* 

sextary or xestes = 2 cotylae = .1204 " 

cotyla = .0602 

The omer would thus be .8669 gal., or about 7 pints. According to the Eabbins, 
however, a log was equal to the contents of six eggs ; and therefore a bath, or ephah. 



EXODUS XVII. 113 

containing 72 logs, held, according to the estimate of Thenius, 4.4286 gal., and conse- 
quently the omer .4428 gal., or above 3^ pints. Now, 3 pints of meal is sufficient, on 
an average, for the daily support of each member of a family. As the manna, then, 
would be pure nutriment, without any considerable loss in the preparation, we must 
regard the Rabbinical estimate as a close approximation to the truth, and that of 
Josephus as an exaggeration. This author is not precise in his identifications ; as he 
makes the fourth part of a cab 

= xestes = .1204 gallons, 
cab = .4816 
6 cabs = seah = 2.8896 
Sseahs = bath = 8.2688 

His value is thus only approximate. But in Antiq . iii. 6. 6, the omer is made = 7 
cotylae = ,4214 gal., and therefore the bath = 4.214. This, we perceive, deviates 
much from his other estimates, and approaches very nearly to that oi the Rabbins. 
We subjoin a table of Hebrew measures of capacity : 

gal. qt. pint. 
Homer = 10 ephalis or baths =44 1 0.0 
Epliah = 3 seahs = 10 omera =41 1.4 
Seah = 6 cabs = 1 1 1.8 

Omer =01 1.54 

Bath = 6 bins = 4 1 1.4 

Hin = 12 logs =02 1.9 

Log = 6 eggs =0 0.5 



CHAP. XVII. — WATER FROM THE ROCK. AMALEK SMITTEN. 

1. CT'D"! Rephidim ; r. spread out, rest upon. Piel. support, 

2. J^jp give ye, referring to Moses and Aaron. Some mss., the Sam., Sept., 
Targ., and Vulg. have n:^? agreeing with Moses alone. It is an easier reading. 

6. n'^n Horeb. Drought, waste. 

7. HDD Massah, neipacfioi, temptation, nino Meribah, Xoi66pT]atc chiding, 
strife. 

9. Jj'l^'fn'' Jehoshua, Jehovah saves. See Num. 13 : 16. 

11. "f-ji. )1-{^ in both cases is the reading of the Sam., Sept., Targ., Syr. and 
Vulg. This also is an easier reading. 

12. -|^n Chur, ^whle. ^J^^^? Gather Jirmness, the substantive for the adjective, 
or firm, the singular, not the plural, because Moses held up only one hand at a 
time. 

1^- Dn3 ^^'*^6. "XdW has occurred in Ex. 5 : 6, denoting a scribe or account- 
ant. 

15. 1QJ I ^'\^^ .Jehovah-nissi, the Lord my lanner. ' 

16. n'' D3 throne ofJah. CZ) is here supposed to be for XD3, which is indeed the 
reading of the Sam. for these four letters. This meaning of the word is found in 
the Targ., Arab., Pers., and Vulg. The Sept. has ev x^ipi Kpvcbaia, evidently read- 
ing (TCD- One MS. is said to have qj, which is a favorite reading with many ex- 



116 WATER FROM THE ROCK. 

positors. It is however without support, and besides affords no better sense than 
the common reading. 

XVII. 1. And all the assembly of the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of 
Sin, after their journeys, according to the mouth of the Lord ; and they pitched in 
Kephidim ; and there was no water for the people to drink. 2. And the people chid 
with Moses, and said, Give us water to drink. And Moses said unto them, Why 
chide ye with me ? Why tempt ye the Loed ? 3. And the people thirsted there for 
water, and the people murmured against Moses ; and they said. Wherefore is this that 
thou hast brought us out of Mizraim to kill me and my sons, and my cattle with 
thirst ? 4. And Moses cried unto the Loed, saying. What shall I do unto this people ? 
They are almost ready to stone me. 5. And the Loed said unto Moses, Pass before 
the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel ; and thy rod wherewith thou 
smotest the river take in thy hand, and go. 6. Behold, I stand before thee there 
upon the rock in Horeb ; and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out of 
it, and the people shall drink. And Moses did so in the eyes of the elders of Israel. 
7. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding 
of the sons of Israel, and of their tempting the Loed, saying, Is the Loed in the 
midst of us or not ? ^ 28. 

8. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Eephidim. 9. And Moses said 
unto Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with Amalek : to-morrow I will 
stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God in my hand. 10. And Joshua did as 
Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek : and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to 
the top of the hill. 11. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand that 
Israel prevailed ; and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. 12. And the 
hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat 
upon it : and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on this side and the other 
on that side ; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13. And 
Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 1[ 29. 

14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book, and re- 
hearse it in the ears of Joshua : for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek 
from under heaven. 15. And Moses built an altar, and called its name Jehovah-nissi. 
16. And he said, Because a hand was upon the throne of Jah, the Loed will have war 
with Amalek from generation to generation. 17. *l[*f[1[ 30. 

1-7. The striking of the rock in Horeb. All the assembly. The attention of the 
reader is still kept to the marshalled host. Set out. They had passed two Sabbaths, 
and the intervening week at the stations in the Wilderness of Sin. After their 
journeys. There may be here a passing allusion to the two stations Dophkah and 
Alush, which, as they were included in the Wilderness of Sin, and were not the scenes 
of any new event of importance, are therefore omitted from the present narrative. 
According to the mouth of the Lord, who by the pillar of cloud and fire undertook their 
guidance (13 : 21, 22). Pitched in Eephidim. This is to be sought in the Wady 
Sheikh, which runs in the form of an arc around the north of that cluster of moun- 
tains to which the general name of Horeb appears to have been given. It was cer- 
tainly arid and waste, as its name implies. Rephidim was a wide-spreading plain at 
the base of the mountain, fit for encampment, but destitute of water. It is placed 
with some probability on the north-east of the mountainous block. 2. The people chid 
with Moses. They had probably endured the almost intolerable thirst for some time 
in silence, expecting that Moses would find means to extricate them out of this new 
difficulty ; at length, impatient of delay, they break out into unmerited reproaches, as 
if he were trifling with their sufferings. Give us water. They evidently recognize the 
divine commission of Moses, and expect him to have interfered on their behalf before 
now. Why tempt ye the Lord ? He reminds them that he was but an agent, and that 
the Lord alone was to determine the time and way of their deliverance. Against him 



EXODUS XVII. 8-13. 117 

therefore they were really murmuring. 3. And the people thirsted. Their distress be- 
came every moment more insufferable. To kill me. Each in his impatience begins to 
speak for himself, as he pines after the refreshing draught for himself, his household, 
and his flocks. 4. And Moses cried unto the Lord. The occasion for importunate sup- 
plication is come. Moses was in perplexity and danger. " It is only to wait a little, 
and they will stone me." 5. The Lord is not slow to answer. Pass before the people. 
Go on in advance of them. Take with thee of the elders of Israel, as concurrents and wit- 
nesses of thy acts ; that no one may say that the Lord did not work by him, but that 
fountains were there from of old (Eashi). And thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river, 
wherewith he was now about to smite the rock for water. 6. Behold I stand before thee 
there. The Lord was to be there, probably in the pillar of cloud to manifest his 
power. Upon the rock in Horeb. The mountain was towering on the right of the 
people. Toward this Moses was to approach till he reached ' ' the rock, ' ' the pro- 
jecting cliff which he was to strike. Eephidim was a day's march from Mount Sinai 
(19 : 1). This is sufficient to prove that the rock in Horeb was not the large boulder 
in the valley below Mount Sinai which tradition points out to the traveller. And 
Moses did so in the sight of the elders. And the Lord was there to give forth the reviv- 
ing streams even from the hard rock. It was there demonstrated that the Lord was 
indeed in the midst of them to make their bread and their water sure, and to reaffirm 
the heavenly mission of his servant. At this now blessed spot they abode for the re- 
maining days of the week. 

8-13. Amalek smitten. Then came. The country of these nomades lay south of the 
Philistines (Gen. 14 : 7). They went therefore out of their own territory to assail the 
Israelites. As their pasture-grounds penetrated far into the land of Kenaan (Judg. 
5 : 14 ; 12 : 15), they would regard with a hostile feeling a people who were on the way 
to take possession of that country. With them, accordingly, first after the political 
independence of Israel was established, began the Gentile antagonism to the people 
of God (Num. 24 : 20) to make its appearance. And fought with Israel. It appears 
from Deut. 25 : 17, 18, that this was an attack upon the rear of Israel when they were 
faint and weary. In Eephidim, a part of the great plain er-Kamleh, where there was a 
space for a military encounter. 9. Joshua is here mentioned for the first time. His 
original name was Hoshea (Num. 13 : 8, 16), but Moses changed it to Joshua, partly, 
we may suppose, in allusion to the event now about to be recorded. He is the ninth 
in descent from Joseph, and of course the eighth from Ephraim (1 Chron. 7 : 20-27). 
He is thus the representative of one of the most important tribes of Israel. Choose us 
out men. Israel was now to gird on his sword and contend for his national indepen- 
dence. This was evidently no flying raid of the Amalekites, bat a war of conquest. 
To-morrow, the enemy awaits them in battle array. I will stand on the top of the hill. 
Moses, with the rod of wonder-working power, takes his station on the neighboring 
eminence (not -^nn ^^^ ny!2in)' ^^^re to take his appropriate part in the approach- 
ing conflict. 10. Ilur was the fourth in descent from Judah, and the grandfather of 
Bezaleel (31 : 2 ; 1 Chron. 2 : 9-20). As he was the grandfather of a full-grown man, 
and a member of the distinguished tribe of Judah, he was the meet companion of 
Aaron in attendance upon Moses. 11, 12. Israel or Amalek prevails according as the 
hand of Moses is held up or let down. Accordingly Aaron and Hur stayed up his 
hands alternately, so that they were steady till sunset. The rod is not mentioned 
here. This is not a miraculous interposition, but an ordinary exercise of faith in God 
accompanying the use of means. The lifting up of the hand or hands is, among other 



118 cAMALEK SMITTElf. 

things, a gesture in prayer (Lev. 9 : 22 ; Ps. 28 : 2 ; 63 : 4 ; 1 Tim. 2 : 8). It is here, 
therefore, a figure for prayer. The continual holding up of the hands denotes perse- 
verance in prayer. Aaron and Hur joining in the upholding of Moses's hands present 
a striking emblem of common prayer. 13. There is power in this prayer of Moses. 
Joshua conquers. Amalek and his people. The one field suffices to vanquish Amalek's 
army and his nation ; as they had put forth their whole might in this first effort. 
The next effort was not offensive, but defensive, and in alliance with the Kenaanites 
(Num. 14 : 45). 

14-16. The importance of the victory over Amalek is set forth. Write. Here for 
the first time this singularly interesting word occurs. It is implied, indeed, in the 
noun " book" (-]£c)» which appears in Gen. 5 : 1, as well as here. It indicates that 
writing was now become so common that the word for it was used in no other sense, 
r/iis refers to the assault of Amalek, the victory over him, the manner in which it 
was obtained, and the purpose expressed in the close of the verse. This was the fi,rst 
encounter with the heathen ; and every particular here enumerated was only a type 
and an earnest of what should take place in every future conflict between the children 
of repentance and the children of disobedience. For a memorial. Writing is a neces- 
sary help to recollection when life is short and memory feeble. In the book. The 
article before this word indicates either that the book in question was well known, or 
that a book was then a well-known object. In the ears of Joshua, who was to be the 
leader of the people, and the conqueror of their enemies. There was special admo- 
nition and encouragement for him in the mode and issue of this battle. Blot out the 
remembrance of Amalek. The fate of Amalek may be read in Deut. 25 : 19 ; 1 Sam. 
15 : 30 ; 2 Sam. 1:1; 8 : 12, from which we learn that they were subdued partly by 
Saul and wholly by David, after which they are no more mentioned. Such will be 
the end of all God's adversaries. 15. Aii altar. This is the first altar the erection of 
which is on record, since the time of Jacob. It marks a new aspect in the affairs of 
the people of God. They have now asserted their independence, and, through the 
grace of God, gained the first victory over their enemies. This is an omen for all 
time to come. The erection of an altar is always in Scripture a confession of the per- 
sonal unworthiness of fallen man, of the assured hope of an atonement, and of hum- 
ble and grateful reliance on the grace of God. Hence the grace of God in giving the 
victory, and the gratitude of the people in receiving it, here appropriately meet. 
Jehovah-nissi. The name of the altar is expressive of thanks for the past and trust for 
the future (Ps. 20 : 5-7). 16. We have given a literal version of this obscure verse. 
The meaning turns upon the person to whom the word hand is referred. If it refer to 
God, the sentence is an oath, as in the Targ., Onk., and the Auth. Ver. But the form 
of oath is unusual, and the connection with the context is far from being obvious. If 
it refer to Moses (Bush) or to Israel (Keil) the meaning is, " because the hand of faith 
and prayer is toward the throne of God," etc. This has the advantage of reference to 
the context ; but the meaning here given to the preposition ^y is unusual, and the 
first clause does not afford a good reasonf or the second. If the hand refer to Amalek 
(Kalisch), the sentence runs thus, "because his (Amalek's) hand was against the 
throne of Yah (the kingdom of God, which includes his people)," etc. The meaning 
is here simple and easy ; the connection with what goes before is sufficiently plain ; 
and the reason assigned for perpetual war until Amalek be extirpated is intelligible 
and suitable. 



EXODUS XVIII. 110 



CHAP. XVIII. — JETHRO. 

2. C^m^II' dismissal. 

4. niy^j*? Eliezer, God-help. 

6. ij}^. . The Sam., Sept., and Syr. have ,-|3n- The sentence then runs, " And 
one said unto Moses, Behold," etc. 

18. inii^y an old form equal to ID^JJ. 

36. 1[2'l9^i an unusual form and pointing for JltO^DlL'^' I* seems to arise from 
the proximity of a pause falling on a very short word. 

XVIII. 1. And Jeth.ro, the priest of Midian, Moses's father-in-law, heard all that 
God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people ; for the Lord had brought 
Israel out of Mizraim. 2. And Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses's 
wife, after he had sent her back : 3. And her two sons, of whom the name of the one 
was Gershom ; for he said, I have become a stranger in a foreign land ; 4. And the 
name of the other Eliezer ; for the God of my father was my help, and delivered me 
from the sword of Pharoh. 5. And Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, and his sons and 
his wife came unto Moses into the wilderness where he encamped at the Mount of 
God. 6. And he said unto Moses, I, thy father-in-law Jethro, come unto thee, and 
thy wife, and her two sons with her. 7. And Moses came out to meet his father-in-law, 
and bowed himself, and kissed him, and they asked each other of their welfare ; and 
they went into the tent. 8. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lokd had 
done unto Pharoh and to Mizraim for the sake of Israel, all the travail that had come 
upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. 9. And Jethro rejoiced over 
aU the good which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the 
hand of Mizraim. 10. And Jethro said. Blessed be the Lord who hath delivered you out 
of the hand of Mizraim, and out of the hand of Pharoh ; who hath delivered the people 
from under the hand of Mizraim. 11. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all 
the gods, for he has prevailed in the thing wherein they dealt proudly with them. 12. 
And Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God ; and 
Aaron went, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' s father-in-law before 
God. 

13. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people ; and the 
people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14. And Moses's father- 
in-law saw all that he did to the people, and he said. What is this thing that thou 
doest to the people ? "Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by .thee 
from morning unto evening ? 15. And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the 
people come unto me to inquire of God. 16. When they have a matter they come 
unto me, and I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God 
and his laws. 17. And Moses's father-in-law said unto him. The thing that thou doest 
is not good. 18. Thou wilt surely wear away, thou and this people that is with thee : 
for this thing is too heavy for thee ; thou canst not do it thyself alone. 19. Now 
hearken to my voice, I will advise thee, and God shall be with thee ; be thou for the 
people before God, and bring thou the causes unto God. 20. And thou shalt teach 
them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way wherein they must walk, and 
the work that they must do. 21. And thou shalt provide out of all the people, able 
men, fearing God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place over them rulers of 
thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22. And they shall 
judge the people at all times ; and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring 
to thee, and every small matter they shall judge themselves : and thou shalt relieve 
thyself, and they shall bear with thee. 23. If thou do this thing and God command 
thee, then thou shalt be able to endure, and also all this people shall go to their place 
in peace. 24. And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that 
he had said. 25. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads 
over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, aiid rulers of 
tens. 26. And they were to judge the people at all times ; the hard cause they were to 
bring to Moses, and every small matter to judge themselves. 27. And Moses let his 
father-in-law depart ; and he went his way unto his own place. ^ 31. 



120 

Moses had formerlj' led the flock of Jethro as far as " the mount of God in Horeb." 
As soon as he arrives at this point, therefore, he is in the neighborhood of Jethro, who 
accordingly pays him a visit, accompanied by Zipporah and her two sons. The chap- 
ter contains the reception of Jethro, and the advice he tenders to his son-in-law con- 
cerning the government of the people. It is probable, as we shall see (vs. 5), that this 
visit took place after the assembly had encamped before the mount. The record of 
this collateral occurrence is placed here, at a convenient pause, that it may not inter- 
fere with the main current of the narrative * (see on.-^<j|^^'i^ Gen. 1 : 3). 

1-12. The arrival of Jethro. Heard all. The spread of intelligence is much more 
rapid among nomadic tribes than in a settled population. 2. Took Zipporah. He re- 
ceived her when she returned from Moses ; but now he takes her to bring her back to 
him. After he had sent her back, n^n'l/ti'' This word occurs twice elsewhere 
(1 Kings 9:16; Micah 1 : 14). In the former passage it denotes a present to a daughter 
sent away in marriage ; in the latter it denotes a figurative dismissal. It is here applied 
to the dismissal of his wife and children, most probably when the youngest child was 
circumcised on the way to Egypt, and was therefore unable to proceed (see on 4 : 26). 
3, 4. Gershom (see on 2 : 22). Eliezer. This is the second son indicated in 4 : 20, 24. 
"•liyS ^^ °^ ^^^ ^y help. Moses had a grateful remembrance of his deliverance 
from the sword of Pharoh. 5, 6. Encamped at the mount of God. " The mount of God" 
is that mount in Horeb on which the law was delivered. This we take to be an indi- 
cation that Moses had left Eephidim, and was now encamping (fijj-j) within sight of 
Sinai. Hence the visit of Jethro takes place after the arrival of the people at the 
"Wilderness of Sinai (see on 19 : 1). And he said unto Moses, by a messenger in advance. 
This is a frequent expansion of the meaning attached to this phrase (12 : 3, 21). 

7-12. The reception of Jethro. Moses came out to meet. He pays all honor to Jethro 
as his father-in-law, and as the priest of Midian. He naturally rehearses to him the 
wonders of the short period during which they had been separated. 9-11. Jethro gives 
expression to the joy he felt in the deliverance of Israel. Blessed he the Lord. Jethro 
here explicitly acknowledges Jehovah as God. He was no doubt acquainted by the 
tradition of his Hebrew fathers with the being and the mercy of God, and he might 
have learned the significant name Jehovah from Moses, if not before. The Lord is greater 
than all the gods. A man in Jethro' s position could not be ignorant of the polytheism 
that had now resulted from the division of human interests and opinions. Yet his spon- 
taneous confession may convey simply the conviction of the infinite pre-eminence of 
Jehovah. For he has prevailed, or showed himself greater, in the very thing in which 
the Egyptians dealt proudly with the Israelites. The authorized version gives precisely 
the same sense, though with a different application, of the word Q;'\t'''/V- 12. Jethro 
gives a practical exhibition of his acknowledgment of the Lord by offering sacrifice. 
The burnt-offering is the completest symbol of the atonement for sin (Gen. 8 : 20). 
The sacrifice being eaten partly by the worshipper expresses communion with God as 
the result of atonement. The common participation before God of the sacrifice is the 
emblem of the communion of the worshippers in the blessings of the divine favor. 

13-27. The counsel of Jethro concerning the administration of justice. On the 
morrow. The day after the sacrifice, which was offered on the day of or the day after 
Oethro's arrival. Moses sat. Sitting is the posture of the judge, standing that of 

* Possibly, also, as illustrative of the opposite attitudes taken by men toward the church of God. 
Amalek resists, and is overcome. Jethro, formally among the heathen, takes the place of a sympa- 
thizing friend, and is treated accordingly.— J. H. 



EXODUS XYIII. 17-23. 121 

those "who come to receive judgment. From the morning unto the evening. During the 
whole of that part of the day assigned to public business. 14-16. Moses explains to • 
Jethro the necessitj' of this constant sitting. To inquire of God, is to come to his min- 
ister or representative to obtain an answer to any inquiry which is beyond human 
solution. In the present case the object of the inquiry is a judicial decision in a dis- 
pute between man and man. In a theocracy this proceeds from God through his 
ministers. Hence to appeal to them is virtually to appeal to God (21 : 6). And I 
make known. This was a process of instruction especially necessary for a new nation 
for which a code of jurisprudence had not yet been provided. At the same time it 
was not possible for one person to instil the principles of law into the hearts of 
all the people, much less to administer justice to a community of at least 
one million six hundred thousand individuals. The statutes of God and his laws 
(12 : 24, 49), his occasional decisions and edicts, and his general laws and principles 
of rectitude. 

17-23. The plan suggested by Jethro. He disapproves of the present practice of 
Moses, as too laborious and tedious. Thou wilt surely wear away. The causes that 
will arise among the people will occupy all thy time to the exclusion of needful leisure 
for recreation and for other duties. And the people that is with thee. They will be 
wearied in waiting for the decision of their litigations, which will be delayed in con- 
sequence of thy inability to determine them as fast as they arise. And this delay 
may tempt them to take the law into their own hands, and so anarchy and outrage 
may pave the way for their gradual annihilation. I'hou canst not do it thyself alone. 
Hence a division of the labor is necessary, that it may be done promptly and efficiently. 
19, 20. And God shall he with thee, approving of thy course, and aiding thee in its ex- 
ecution. Jethro means that he should not proceed without the divine concurrence. 
Be thou for the people before God, between God and the people, to represent him to 
them, and their causes to him. Thou shall teach them, expound the regulations and 
principles of civil and religious law. The way, the moral principle of their conduct. 
The icork, the conduct which they are to pursue in the way which the law directs. 
Moses is thus to be, under God, the great teacher of the people, the promulgator of 
law, and the director of its administration. 21, 22. Provide out of, look out among 
you. This was done by the people themselves proposing men to be approved and 
appointed by Moses, as he himself explains (Deut. 1 : 13, 15), " Give ye wise men, 
and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over 
you." "And I took," accepted at the hand of the people. Able men, having the req- 
uisite abilities for the office. This is the first qualification. Fearing God, men of 
piety. Men of tndh, whose word may be trusted. Hating covetousness, that wiU not 
therefore be bribed to pronounce unjust decisions. An admirable choice and order 
of qualifications. Eiders of thousands. It has been calculated by the Talmudists, 
and even by Grotius, that according to this arrangement seventy-eight thousand six 
hundred judges would be required for six hundred thousand men. But we cannot 
suppose that the patriarchal rule, which is a law of nature, was to be superseded by 
this regulation. A father was still to be acknowledged as the governing head of his 
descendants during his life, especially when they dwelt with him in the same house 
or tent. And he is the unit intended in the thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens 
here mentioned. Thus in Josh. 7 : 16-24 we find Israel divided into tribes, the tribe 
of Judah into clans (n'lriDti^lO)' *^^ ^^^^ °^ Zarhi into men (CH^i^' iiidividuals or 
units, of whom Achan was one. But Achan has sons and daughters and a tent, and 



122 JETHRO'S VISIT TO MOSES. 

is therefore tlie father of a house. Such a house, including children, might contain 
from five to fifty individuals. We may take twenty as a reasonable average of a 
grandfather's family. Ten such families would in that case amount to two hundred 
individuals, and ten such heads are the smallest number allowed by the Talmudists 
to constitute a synagogue. In a people of at least one million six hundred thousand 
there would thus be eight thousand rulers of tens, sixteen hundred rulers of fifties, 
eight hundred rulers of hundreds, and eighty rulers of thousands, and therefore ten 
thousand four hundred and eighty rulers in all. The number of appeals from rulers 
of tens would be proportionately greater than from the higher judges, because they 
were not much in rank above the fathers of houses ; and hence the rulers of fifties 
seem to be introduced to distribute the burden which would otherwise fall on the 
rulers of hundreds. Every great matter Avould come up to Moses either by appeal, 
where the parties were dissatisfied with the judgment of the inferior courts, or by ref- 
erence, when these courts were deterred from judging by the difficulty of the cause. 
The latter is the mode expressly recognized in the text, and was probably, in the 
custom of the people, inclusive of the former. And God command thee. Jethro sub- 
mits his proposal to the decision of God. Go to their place in peace. Prompt and im- 
partial administration of justice will allay quarrels and beget that mutual confidence 
and good feeling which tends to peace. Jethro presents his modest proposal as a 
temporary expedient, until the people should arrive in a country where they might 
have settled institutions. 

24-26. And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father -in-laio. This sentence throws 
light on the ways of Providence and on the character of Moses. The practical mind 
of Jethro, on the first glance at a great evil, is prompted to suggest an immediate 
remedy. Moses, on the other hand, being a man of a more educated mind and more 
deferential spirit, and aware that this evil has only lasted for a month or two, and will 
very soon be removed by the promulgation of a complete code of laws, waits in reve- 
rential patience, as is his wont, for the intimation of Heaven to initiate the needed 
change. But the suggestion of Jethro he receives with that respectful attention 
which was then paid to age, acknowledges to be agreeable to the dictates of his own 
reason, and accepts as the mode presented in the dispensation of Providence for the 
removal of the present difficulty, * The method of the providence of God is evidently 
out of the given emergency to elicit the required measure, either by an immediate 
communication from heaven or by a suggestion of human reason adequate to the 
occasion, and approved by God, Neither the disposition nor the past training of 
Moses inclined him to step before the Almighty in devising a remedy for ordinarj^ 
difficulties ; and even this meekness was no small qualification for his high office. 
25, And Moses chose. By a common figure he is said to do that which he caused to 
be done. The people chose at Moses's direction. 

27. And Moses let his father-in-law depart. The sacred writer, as usual, brings one 
line of events to a close before passing to another. We are not bound, therefore, to 
conclude that Moses completed the introduction of his new measures for the admin- 
istration of justice, and parted with his father-in-law before the series of events re- 
corded in the following chapters had commenced. So far as the form of the narra- 
tive goes, we are at liberty to suppose that the interview with Jethro took place any 

* There may be sound wisdom and organizing talent outside the Church of God, and it is the part 
of true wisdom to recognize it, always, however, as in this case, in meek deference to the Divine 
will,— J. H. 



EXODUS XVIII. 27. 123 

time during the encampment at the " mount of God." The parallel passage (Deut. 
1 : 9-18) referring to the institution of civil magistrates, dates this measure with pre- 
cisely the same latitude. On the other hand, we are not constrained to suppose 
these proceedings unfinished, if the time suffice for their accomplishment. Now 
the assembled host arrived at the Wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth of the second 
month. If this was the first day of the week, and the whole of this week was spent 
at the three stations in this wilderness, eight days would remain for the journey to 
Eephidim, the smiting of the rock in Horeb, and the battle with Amalek. It appears 
from the following chapter that the journey to the Wilderness of Sinai took place on 
the first of the third month. It is possible that the interview with Jethro, and the 
tendering of his counsel, may have taken place on the second and third, and the carry- 
ing of this proposal into effect on the fourth and fifth. And it seems reasonable that 
Moses should be at once relieved of the burden of personally hearing and deciding 
upon every case of litigation that might arise among the people. Jethro, however, 
may have taken leave for a time on the third day. It is most probable that, during 
the eleven months and twenty days of the sojourn of Israel in the Wilderness of 
Sinai, there were frequent interviews between Moses and his relatives by marriage, as 
they were in the immediate neighborhood. The passage in Num. 10 : 29-32, however, 
refers to the farewell and final parting between them, when the marshalled host set 
out for the Wilderness of Paran on their way to the promised land. 



SECTION lY— THE LAWGIYmG. 

XI. THE MORAL LAW.— Ex. 19-20. 

CHAP. XIX. — PKEPARATION FOR LAWGIVING. 

13. 7)^1 the Uower, horn, cornet ; r. Jiow, Mow, go. It is equal to T'n'in ]1p> the 
horn of blowing or sounding, and nDilI^> cornet. It differs from ni^lin> the 
straight trumpet. It is probable that it was originally a ram's horn. The Rab- 
bins and others affirm that ^ni signifies a ram. In Phoenician inscriptions it is 
said to have this meaning. 

XIX. 1. In the third month of the departure of the sons of Israel from the land of 
Mizraim, on this day were they come to the wilderness of Sinai. 2. And they set out 
from Eephidim and went to the wilderness of Sinai, and pitched in the wilderness ; 
and there Israel pitched before the mountain. 

3. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the moun- 
tain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel. 
4. Ye have seen what I did unto Mizraim, and how I bare you on eagle's wings, and 
brought you unto me. 5. And now if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my 
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the peoples : for all 
the earth is mine. 6. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy 
nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the sons of Israel. 7. And 
Moses went and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these 
words which the Lokd commanded him. 8. And all the people answered together and 
said. All that the Loed hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the 
people unto the Lokd. 9. And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in 
the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and so believe thee 
forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. 10. And the Loed 
said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and 
let them wash their clothes. 11. And be ready for the third day : for on the third 
day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12, 
And thou shalt set bounds to the people round about, saying, Beware ye of going up 
to the mount, or touching the border of it : whosoever toucheth the mount shall be 
surely piit to death. 13. There shall not a hand touch him, but he shall be surely 
stoned or shot through ; whether beast or man, it shall not live : when the trumpet 
soundeth long, they shall go up to the mount, 14, And Moses went down from the 
mount unto the people : and he sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 
15. And he said unto the people. Be ye ready for the third day : come not at your 
wives. 

16. And it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunders 
and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the sound of the trumpet very 
loud ; and all the people that were in the camp trembled. 17, And Moses brought 
forth the people from the camp to meet with God ; and they stood at the nether part 
of the mount. 18 And Mount Sinai was all asmoke, because the Loed came down 
upon it in fire : and the smoke thereof went up as the smoke of a furnace, and the 



126 ISRAEL ARRIVES AT SIJifAI. 

whole mount trembled greatly. 19. And when the sound of the trumpet waxed louder 
and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20. And the Loed came 
down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount ; and the Lord called Moses to the 
top of the mount, and Moses went up. 21. And the Lokd said unto Moses, Go down, 
charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them 
perish. 22. And let the priests also, who come near to the Loed, sanctify themselves, 
lest the Loed break forth upon them. 23. And Moses said unto the Loed, The people 
cannot come up to Mount Sinai ; for thou hast charged us. saying, Set bounds about 
the mount, and sanctify it. 24. And the Loed said unto him, Go, get thee down, and 
thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee ; but let not the priests or the people 
break through to come up unto the Loed, lest he break forth upon them. 25. Ajid 
Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them. § 20. 

The exodus from Egypt is now past. That great event includes two concurring 
elements in the moral history of the people — redemption and renovation. They are 
redeemed from the bondage of Egypt ; they are renovated in their feeling of allegiance 
to Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth. Their redemption appears in their deliver- 
ance from the plagues of Egypt, from the power of Egypt in the passage of the Eed 
Sea, and from drought and famine in the miraculous supplies of manna, quails, and 
water with which they have been favored in the wilderness. Their renovation of con- 
science and will is discovered in their faith in Moses as the attested minister of 
Heaven, their unanimous observance of the significant solemnity of the passover, and 
in their ready and thankful departure from Egypt at the instance of the Lord, who 
had guaranteed their deliverance. After the new birth comes new obedience to 
Heaven's eternal law. The coexistence, however, of the old nature with the new 
principle of spiritual life in the heart of the nation renders the promulgation of law 
necessary as well as seasonable. It is seasonable precisely when power to comply 
with it has been engendered in the soul. And it is necessary because the infant will 
and the awakened conscience need to be enlightened and guided by a code of laws in 
checking and rooting out the old habits of sin which have blinded the eyes, warped the 
original bent, and marred the moral beauty of the soul. Hence the legislation comes 
in the train of the redemption and spiritual renewal of the nation. Hence the law is 
a doctrine (n~l*l'ri) ^°^ ^^® information of the conscience and the training of the will. 
Hence it consists mainly of prohibitions for the repression of those habitual tenden . 
cies which linger in the renovated soul from the evil bias of the past. 

The lawgiving is accordingly a step in advance of the exodus. It is an end to which 
the exodus is the means. It stands forth, therefore, as the second prominent theme 
in the book before us. Like the Exodus, it occupies six chapters, of which the first is 
a preface and the last a conclusion. In the preparatory chapter we have the arrival of 
the people at Mount Sinai, the directions for the purifying of the people, and the de- 
scription of Mount Sinai when the Lord descended upon it. 

1, 2. The arrival at the place where the law was to be given. In the third month. As 
the term here employed denotes the new month, and a precise day, " on this day, " is 
indicated, we may safely conclude that the first day of the month is intended. It is 
therefore now a month and a half since they left Egypt. Were they come to. This ex- 
pression indicates that the events of the preceding chapter reached to a point of time 
beyond that which is now taken up as the main narrative (see on Gen. pp. 23, 34, 39). 
It is intended at the same time to date emphatically the day of their arrival. In the 
next verse the consecutive order of the narrative proceeds. 

ISinaL From the usage of Scripture, and especially of these chapters, it is plain 



EXODUS XIX. 1, 2. 127 

that Sinai denotes a particular mountain, while Horeb denotes a block or range of 
mountains, with their intervening wadys, coinciding in a great measure with Jebel 
et-Tur. This granite mass includes the Wadys es-Sheikh, er-Eahah, and es-Sebayeh, 
with all their lesser outlets. The Wilderness of Sinai seems to be the plains and wadys 
in its immediate neighborhood, where cattle might browse or men encamp. We take 
Sinai to be that detached mass of which Jebel Musa is the highest point, and Eas 
Sufsafeh is the peak that rises almost perpendicularly over the Wady er-Eahah, for the 
following among other reasons : (1.) Josephus (Antiq. iii. 5, 1) says it is the highest of 
all the mountains in that country. Now Serbal, which Lepsius takes to be the scene 
of the lawgiving, is only six thousand seven hundred and sixty feet high (Stanley, Map 
of Elevations in Sinai and Palestine), while the cluster to which Sinai belongs is about 
nine thousand feet high. Jebel Musa, in particular, rises to seven thousand five hun- 
dred and sixty feet. (2.) There are the Wadys er-Eahah, es-Sheikh, and, according 
to Laborde (Comment, p. 108) and F. A. Strauss (Sinai, p. 134), es-Sebayeh, in the 
vicinity of Jebel Musa, which are amply sufiicient for the encampment of a large host. 
Eobinson (Biblical Eesearches, i. p. 140) measured across the water-shed of er-Eahah, 
and found it to be nine hundred yards, while the distance from the foot of the moun- 
tain was two thousand three hundred and thirty-three yards. The northern slope of 
the plain he judged to be somewhat less than a mile in length, by one third of a mile 
in breadth. The whole plain he estimates at two miles long, and from a third to two 
thirds of a mile broad. " This space is nearly doubled by the recess to the west and 
the Wady es-Sheikh." Here, then, is an open space of about two square miles. Of 
the Plain es-Sebayeh, Strauss reports that the side on which the Wady es-Sebayeh en- 
ters the plain is fourteen hundred feet in breadth, and at the south-western foot of 
the mountain eighteen hundred feet ; that the latter is the breadth at its central 
part, and its length from east to west is twelve thousand feet ; and that toward the 
south it rises very gradually, and even the mountains which bound it on the south 
have a gentle slope. This plain is therefore about a square mile in area. It is ac- 
knowledged that there are no such open spaces in the vicinity of Serbal. (3.) The 
way to Jebel Musa is much more open for a large host than that to or from Serbal. 
(4.) The stations before and after the former can be more readily accounted for than 
before and after the latter. On this point we can only refer to Eobinson. (5.) The 
tradition is in favor of Jebel Musa. This is unquestioned up to the time of Justinian, 
who founded a church on one of the wadys of Sinai in 527 b.c, according to Procopius. 
Before this period, however, it is contended by Lepsius and others that the tradition 
was in favor of Mount Serbal, on the supposed authority of Eusebius, Jerome, and 
Cosmas Indicopleustes. But Eusebius, according to the rendering of Jerome (De situ 
et nom. Heb.) thus describes Horeb — Choreb mons Dei in regione Madian juxta 
montem Sina super Arabiam in deserto (Cui jungitur mons et desertum Saracenorum, 
quod vocatur Paran. Mihi autem videtur, quod duplici nomine idem mons nunc 
Sinai nunc Choreb vocetur). From this passage it is evident that Eusebius places 
Horeb in Midian, while Serbal belonged to Amalek, or at least not to Midian. And 
Jerome regards Paran, the mountain of the Saracens, or, as he explains, the Ishmael- 
ites, as adjoining the desert in which Horeb was situated. Now mount Paran is in 
Jerome's estimation either Serbal, or it is not. If it be, then Sinai and Horeb are 
different from it. If it be not, then Eusebius and Jerome say nothing whatever of 
Serbal. These authors (on Faran) also report that the children of Israel marched 
through Paran when they left Sinai, and that Pharan is three days' journey from Ailah 



128 ISRAEL ARRIVES AT SINAI. 

or Elath. Serbal, therefore, if it were Paran, could not be identical with Sinai, But 
it cannot be the same with Paran, as it is about seventy-five miles from Ailah, which 
would be at least four days' journey. They also record (Raphidim) that Kephidim is 
beside Horeb, and near Paran ; a statement which, after the preceding notices, im- 
plies only that it lay between the two, and by no means that the two are identical. 
Cosmas (Topogr, Christ, lib. v.) writes, Elra ndXiv Tzapsvt^alov eis FacpiSlv, els Tf/0 viv 
XeyofjLEVTjv 4>apdv. This merely intimates that Kephidim was in the region then called 
Pharan. Hence, he says, Moses proceeds to Mount Horeb, which is in the Sinaic 
(range) about six miles from Pharan {elg Xuprj/S to 6/)o5, TovreoTiv, Iv tu livaio) eyyvS 
ovTi rfji ^apuv 6i cltto fit/iluv k^). The present ruins of the town Feiran are about six. 
teen miles from Jebel Musa, and about six miles from the nearest point of the gran- 
itic block to which it belongs, while it cannot properly be said to be any distance 
from Serbal, at the foot of which it lies. Cosmas regards Horeb as a part of the 
Sinaic cluster of hills, and hence he speaks loosely of the inscriptions, which he 
says are found in all the stations of the Israelites, as existing in the desert of the Sinaic 
range (kv kKeivy ry eprjinc) rov Hivatov opovS ev TzdaaiS KaTairavGeai). "We may here ob- 
serve, indeed, that these inscriptions are found to be due, not to the Israelites or the 
Christians, but to the inhabitants, or the pilgrims of a heathen superstition, and 
therefore afford no ground for determining the mount of the law. (See Beer, Inscr. 
Vet. ; Credner, Heidelb. Jahrb. 1841, p. 980 ; Fr. Tuch, Versucheiner Erklarung 
von 21 Sin. Inschr. ; Kurtz on the Covenant, v. iii. p. 61.) The fact then seems to 
be that these three authors have been misunderstood, and are really in harmony with 
the general tradition, indicated even in the name Jebel Musa, the mount of Moses. 

2. And they set out from Rephidim. As the previous verse looks back to the events 
of the foregoing chapter, so this verse looks forward to the continuance of the narra- 
tive from chap. 17. Then we were at Rephidim, and now we dej)art from it. The 
Wildertiess of ^inai is a phrase comprehensive of the mount of the lawgiving, and the 
surrounding desert. It seems to be coextensive with Horeb, the central granitic 
block of mountain and glen now called Jebel et-Tur. Before the mountain. This ex- 
pression signifies over against, or within sight of it, but not necessarily close by or 
contiguous to the mountain. "We may imagine the main body of the encampment to 
be in the "Wady es-Sheikh, and its wings or straggling outskirts in the adjacent glens, 
partly it may be in the Plain es-Sebayeh, and generally within view of some part 
of Sinai. 

3-15. The directions for the preparation of the people. And Moses went up unto 
God. The pillar of cloud now rested on Mount Sinai, and was conspicuous before 
the eyes of all the people. The going up of Moses unto God means, not that he 
ascended the mountain, which is not here asserted, but that he drew nigh to God in 
the customary way. And as the Lord now manifested himself on a mountain-top, 
the approach of Moses was an ascent, even though he only reached the base. This 
interpretation of the words is manifest from the following sentence : " And the Lord 
called unto him out of the mountain.'' This implies that Moses was not on the moun- 
tain, but at such a distance from the Divine presence as to warrant the word " called ' ' 
instead of " sjjake." 

3-6. The words of the Lord here contain a tendering again of his covenant to the 
people, for formal and final acceptance. They indicate, first, the party who are to en- 
ter into covenant with God. The " house of Jacob" is the parallel of the "sons of 
Israel," the former, however, pointing to their natural, the latter to their spiritual 



EXODUS XIX. 3-6. 129 

relations (see Gen. 32 : 23-33).# Secondly, the keeping of the covenant on God's part 
is put forward in a short and striking appeal to the people. Ye have seen. This was 
a matter of personal experience with them. What I did in Mizraim. The eleven 
manifestations of his power on their behalf in that country. And how I bare you on 
eagle's wings. In the twelfth miracle, at the Ked Sea, he delivered them from the 
perils of the surrounding waters and the pursuing Egyptians, with as much care as 
the eagle takes in teaching its nestlings to make the first essay in flight among the 
beetling heights where it has its abode (Deut. 32 : 11). The parent bird, it is said, 
sweeps gently past the j'oung ones perched on a ledge of rock, and when one, ventur- 
ing to follow, begins to sink with drooping wing, glides underneath, and bears it aloft 
again (Duns, Biblical Natural* Science, ii. 46). This beautiful figure strikingly illus- 
trates the patient tenderness with which the Lord labored to train his people for the 
escape from Egypt, and guarded them from the hazards of the way. And brought 
you unto me, brought you home to adoption and inheritance with your God and 
Father. Thirdly, the acceptance of the covenant is lovingly proposed to the people. 
If ye icill obey, obey my voice. The repetition is emphatic, "if ye obey me promptly 
and heartily." And keep my covenant, the parallel of the previous clause ; "be faith- 
ful to me, as I have been to you" ; a touching appeal that wins a ready assent from a 
true heart. Lastly, comes the promise in new and expressive terms. It contains the 
three elements of salvation, appropriation, propitiation, and sanctification. Here for 
the first time occur three remarkable phrases, which become household words in the 
church. They throw a new light on the privilege and responsibility of the believer. 
(1.) A peculiar treasure unto me. To belong to God is an inestimable blessing. How 
much more to be his in a special sense above all others, /IcdS TrepiovaioS, a peculiar 
people ! For all the earth is mine. This is to explain the phrase " above all peoples." 
All the inhabitants of the earth belong to God by right of creation and general bene- 
faction ; but ye belong to him, over and above all this, by special grace and covenant ; 
and out of his free grace flows to you all that is comprised in remission, redemption, 
and regeneration. This part of the promise is therefore a comprehensive summary of 
all the blessings of salvation. (2.) A kingdom of priests. This is a pregnant sentence. 
It presupposes the people to be themselves the objects of priestly intercession and 
royal protection. It expressly elevates them into the dignity and authority of perform- 
ing priestly functions, and dispensing royal favors to others. " A kingdom of 
priests" the Septuagint renders by l3aai2.ELov lepdrevjua, a priesthood of kings. This is 
sufficient to show that a kingdom was here understood to be a community of persons 
invested with the powers of sovereignty, such as commanding, judging, defending, 
punishing, and rewarding, and bound to exercise them, under God, for the good of 
mankind. The benignity of their sway is indicated by the facts that they are to be 
priests as well as kings. They find mankind under the ban of disobedience, the 
doom of death. Their office calls them to make atonement for the sins of the world, 
intercede for the returning penitent, and reconcile him to God. This function of sub- 
lime beneficence involves questions of the deepest import in the salvation of man- 
kind, which do not meet their full solution until we approach the end of the volume 
of inspiration. Who can independently mediate between God and man ? What can 
be an all-sufficient propitiation for sin ? We abstain from anticipating the answer to 
these questions, which does not belong to the interpreter, and is familiar to every 
reader of the New Testament. * Meanwhile, we contemplate with profound admira- 

* While, here and elsewhere, our author confines himself to the work of an interpreter, the teacher 



130 PREPARATION^ FOR THE LAWGIVIKG. 

tion tlie nation that has a mission to discharge these benign functions, and a history 
pregnant with a great king, priest, and sacrifice that will be able to accomplish the 
salvation of the soul. 3. A holy nation. Along with a free pardon and an all-prevalent 
intercession, the third requisite for salvation is a sanctified nature. But this is 
introduced here not merely as an element of their own salvation, but as a qualifica- 
tion for that high function of reigning and reconciling which they are to exercise for 
the salvation of the world. There is a beautiful unity given to this ideal when we re- 
gard Israel as the son, the first-born of God (Ex. 4 : 22). This son is the king and 
priest, the holy one of the present passage. This collective or national Israel contains 
within its bosom the individual and actual Son of God, of which it is the type in its 
regal and sacerdotal dignity, as it is the emblem of the church in its peace and purity. 
Thus God sets before his chosen people a new ideal, which is to be represented for 
their instruction in the typical institutions of the ceremonial law. It is to have a 
twofold realization ; on the one hand in the grateful reception of salvation from age to 
age by a growing number, until at length the whole of mankind are gathered into this 
kingdom ; and on the other hand in the gracious dispensing of this salvation until the 
Messiah have come once to make atonement for sin, and again to bring in the new 
heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. These are the ivords which 
thou shalt speak unto the sons of Israel. These pregnant words are to take root in the 
hearts of the people, and bear fruit in all future ages. 

7, 8. The consent of the people to the covenant is warm and prompt. Moses went 
and called for the elders of the people. Here we have the usual order of communication 
with the people. The elders are the representatives of the people, who convey to them 
the message of the Lord by Moses, and act as their spokesmen in replying to it 
(12:21). And all the people answered together. They gave a unanimous response. All 
that the Lord hath spoken we will do. They freely close with the gracious terms of the 
covenant. Moses reports their favorable answer to the Lord. 

9-13. The directions to the people to sanctify themselves, and keep at a distance 
from the mountain. Lo 1 come unto thee. This is the usual phrase for an intended 
action. In the thick cloud, in which my presence is usually manifested. That the people 
may hear wheyi 1 speak with thee. The Lord does not demand confidence in his messen- 
ger and minister without giving abundant evidence of his commission. He had before 
given the signs of the rod turned into a serpent, and the hand changed from sound- 
ness to leprosy, and again to soundness ; but these were exhibited before the elders as 
the representatives of the people (Ex. 4 : 29 31). He had also wrought the miracles 
of the deliverance from Egypt by the hand or the word of Moses ; but many of these 
were not under the eye of the people. But now he will answer Moses in the audience 
of all the people, that thej'- may believe Ynxa. forever. The Lord knew the inconstancy 
of the people, and therefore condescends to give them a universal and personal attes- 
tation to the authority of his prophet and delegate. Forever, without interruption. 
The words of the people. This was the proper plan for introducing the formal and 
unanimous assent of the people to the covenant of the Lord. 10. Sanctify them to-day 
and to-morrow. These days were supposed to be, according to tradition, the fourth 
and fifth of the third month. It is probable that the fifth was the Sabbath, or closing 
day of the seven weeks after the passover. This rests on the twofold assumption that 
the 15th of Nisan coincided with the weekly Sabbath, and that the first month con- 
will not fail to point out, in such passages as 1 Pet. 2 : 9 and others of the like character, the full reali- 
zation of the Old Testament ideal in tiie New Testament church,— J. H. 



J 



EXODUS XIX. 16-25. 131 

tained twenty-nine, and the second thirty days. The "sanctifying" consisted in 
washing their clothes and abstaining from conjugal intercourse (5 : 15 ; Lev. 15 : 18)., 
These serve for the outward form of sanctification in the absence of any ceremonial 
enactment. 11. And he 7^eady for the third day.* According to the supposition already 
mentioned, the sixth of the third month would be the fiftieth day after the Sabbath 
in the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread. We know that this fiftieth day 
was afterward one of the three great annual festivals of Israel ; and as the other two 
had special reference to momentous events in the history of the people, the feast of 
weeks may have had reference to the giving of the law. This affords an additional 
argument in favor of the fiftieth day being that of the lawgiving. 12. Set bowids to 
the people. These bounds were at some distance from the base of the mountain. 
Beware ye of going up to the mount. This forbids not merely ascending the side, but 
going up to the foot of the mount. Or touching the border. They were not to pass the 
bounds marked out by Moses, or approach the border or skirt of the mount. There 
shall not a hand touch him, who transgresses the bounds and touches the mount. No 
one shall cross the bounds prescribed in order to drag him back or punish his pre- 
sumption. He shall only from a distance be stoned or shot through. Wliether man or 
beast. The owner is punished for his carelessness by the loss of his beast. But, 
even apart from this consideration, the awful sanctity of the divine presence is not 
to be violated by any unseemly intrusion. When the trumpet soundeth long. When 
the cornet gives a long and swelling note, they shall go up to the mount. As we are said 
to go up to the capital of a country, so here they go up to the mount, when they draw 
nigh to it without either ascending it or touching its skirts. "They" (nijsn) ^^ ^^" 
pliatic in the original, and refers to the people in contrast with Moses, who was 
authorized to come into contact with the mountain. At the sounding of the trumpet 
they are to approach to the boundaries that have been marked out ; but they are on 
no account and at no time to proceed farther. 14, 15. And Moses went doicn from the 
mount. He had drawn nigh, but not necessarily ascended to the summit, to hold 
converse with God. Sanctified the people, gave the necessary orders for their sanctifi- 
cation. Come not at your wives. See vs. 10 and Lev. 15 : 18. 

16-25. The descent of the Lord on Mount Sinai. A thick cloud. A heavy, dark 
mass of clouds. In the camp, in view of, but at a considerable distance from, the 
mountain. We do not deem it necessary to determine further than the text warrants, 
even with all the light that modern travellers have cast upon the locality, the precise 
spot in which the people were encamped. 17. And Moses brought forth the people. On 
the given signal (vs. 13), namely, the long and swelling blast of the trumpet, Moses 
leads forward the trembling people to hear the giving of the law. We must here bear 
in mind that Moses issued his commands, as the general of a great army, by means of 
the elders or acknowledged leaders of the people (vs. 17). They stood at the nether 
part, or foot of the mountain, outside of the barrier which Moses had erected to pre- 
vent intrusion. A scene of ineffable grandeur now presented itself before them. 
18. All asmoke. The disengaged and partly unconsumed matter arises, and en- 
velopes, as usual, the fire in which the Lord descends. The whole mountain trembled 
greatly with the reverberations of the thunder. 19. The trumpet sound waxed louder 
and louder, as the people were gathering into their appointed station before the 

* Over and above the evidence this transaction furnished to the people as a whole, it is worth notice 
that Moses committed him^'oir to ihe people to the statement that on the third day the Lord would 
descend. It is like tlio conlidciiCvj (,f i.'i ^ great Prophet, " the third day he will rise again.*"— J. H. 



133 PREPARATION FOR THE LAWGIVIl^G. 

mount. The origin of this sound we leave, as the text does, undetermined. On the 
sudden silence which followed this awful trumpet blast, Moses spake, and God answered 
him by a voice, by an audible and articulate form of words. This is the fulfilment of 
the promise made in vs. 9. What were the words uttered on this sublime occasion 
we cannot venture to determine. The statement may refer to, or at least include, the 
whole of the following communications so far as they were audible to the people. 
This is favored by the discernible pause which the narrative here makes. The recog- 
nition of this pause gives point and emphasis to the present statement, and imparts 
a solemn stateliness to the progress of the narrative. 

20-25. And the Lord came doim. This sublime event has been as yet only incident- 
ally indicated to account for ("^^'j^j ^jDIO ^' ^^) *^^ smoking of Mount Sinai. It now 
comes forward in a direct statement with the precise intimation that the Lord de- 
scended on the top of the mount. He now called to Moses (nt^XD^) *^ S° ^P ^^ ^^^ 
top of the mount. Here for the first time we conceive Moses proceeded farther than 
the foot of the mountain, and advanced some distance on its slopes, without however 
reaching, or even approaching, the actual summit. It is only asserted that Moses 
went up, without adding how far. 21. Go down, char'ge the people. We may conceive 
that the people from the camp were pressing forward under the direction of their 
leaders, and that there was some danger that the front ranks of this multitudinous 
host should be urged over the barriers that had been set to the people. Without for 
a moment imagining that the women and children were all within the valleys imme- 
diately around the mount, we can easily understand that the vast mass of deeply- 
agitated men would need the reiterated directions of their supreme commander to 
prevent any involuntary intrusion from the pressure in the rear. In these circum- 
stances the Lord mercifully sends down Moses to charge the people, lest they break 
through the boundaries, gaze upon that which no eye is to behold, and many of them 
perish. 22. The priests also. We know that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob erected altars 
and offered sacrifices to the Lord, and that Moses informed Pharoh that Israel was 
commanded to go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice unto the Lord. 
The presumption is, that there were some among them who were appointed to act as 
priests. Every head of a family killed the first paschal lamb for his own household, 
thereby practically evincing that the people were all kings and priests unto God. 
And we read (24 : 5) before the appointment of Aaron and his sons, that " Moses sent 
young men of the sons of Israel who offered burnt-offerings." Here we perceive that 
the nation was not without sacred officers who discharged the functions and were 
entitled to the name of priests. Who they were we do not learn from the narrative, 
probably because their service at the altar was merely temporary, until Aaron should 
be called to the priesthood. Who come near to the Lord to intercede for the people. 
Sanctify themselves, keep themselves apart outside of the boundary, observing the same 
rules as the people. These occasional priests have no privileges beyond the rest of. 
Israel, who are all priests unto God. 23. Moses here intimates that the people cannot 
touch the mountain on account of the bounds by which it is separated and sanctified. 
24. But the Lord directs him to go down, and prevent the people and the priests, 
who had not yet got any special charge, from breaking through the barrier. It is in- 
timated that Moses and Aaron are to come up to the mount. But this seems not to 
have taken place until a second intimation of the proper time is given (24 : 1). 25. 
Moses accordingly goes down, and reiterates the charge to the people and the priests. 



EXODUS XX. 133 



CHAP. XX. — THE MORAL LAW, AND THE ALTAR. 

2-17. The reader of the original will observe that these verses are provided 
with a double accentuation, the one referring to the verses, the other to the com- 
mandments, and called the lower and upper accent. Where only one accent 
stands, the two coincide. Where a principal pause of the one concurs with a 
minor pause of the other, a double vocalization may occur, the short vowel being 
lengthened by the one accent, and not by the other. For the same cause a letter 
of double power at the beginning of a word is read as a semi-vowel with the one 
accentuation, and as a mute with the other. In some copies, vs. 13, 14, 15, are 
included in one. Q is found at the end of the seventh verse, indicating the pri- 
mary division of the Decalogue, q i^ found at the end of vs. 6, 11, 13, 13, 14, 
15, 16, and after the first clause of vs. 17, marking the subdivisions. This is 
plainly the primary form of the Decalogue. The deviations of the copy in Deut. 
5 will be best considered there. In some copies of the Sept. vs. 13, 14, 15, stand 
in the order 14, 15, 13. 

9. nDX?/0 ^<^?'^) iusiness, ministry ; r. un. employ. It is more comprehensive 
than nn^y labor, service, bond-service ; r. to labor, till the ground, serve. 

13. After fjirjTipa gov, the Sept. has Iva ev cot yevriTaL, koI, corresponding with a 
similar clause in Deut. 5 : 16. 

17. At the end of this verse the Sam. Pent, has a long passage agreeing 
mostly with Deut. 37 : 3-7. It is not found in Onk. or the Sept. 

19. The Sam. Pent, here omits nj^Oti'Jl IjlSy iinX 131 ^^^ inserts a passage 
contained in Deut. 5 : 31-34. It is not followed, however, by Onk. or the Sept. 

XX. 1. And God spake all these words, saying, § 21. 

2. I am the Lord thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Mizraim, out 
of the house of bondage. 

3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 
that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
under the earth. 5. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them : for I the 
Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, 
upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me ; 6. And show- 
ing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. § 22. 

7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will 
not acquit hiiu that taketh his name in vain. *^ 32. 

8. Kemember the Sabbath day to hallow it. 9. Six days shalt thou labor, and do 
all thy work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt 
not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid- 
servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : 11. For in six days 
the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested 
the seventh day : wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it. § 23. 

12. Honor thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long upon the land 
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. § 24. 

13. Thou shalt not kill. § 25. 

14. Thou shalt not commit adultery. § 26. 

15. Thou shalt not steal. § 27. 

16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. § 28. 

17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house ; § 29, Thou shalt not coVet thy 
neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor 
anything that is thy neighbor's. § 30. 



134 THE MORAL LAW. 

18. And all the people saw the thiinderings, and the lightnings, and the sound of 
the trumpet, and the mountain smoking : and when the people saw it, they drew back 
and stood afar off. 19. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will 
hear ; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20. And Moses said unto the people, 
Fear not ; for God is come to prove you ; and that his fear may be before you, that 
ye sin not. 21. And the people stood afar off : and Moses drew near to the thick 
darkness where God was. § 31, 

22. And the Loed said unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Ye 
have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 23. Ye shall not make with me 
any idol ; gods of silver or gods of gold shall ye not make unto you. 24. An altar of 
earth thou shalt make unto me, and thou shalt sacrifice thereon thy burntofferings, 
and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen : in every place where I record my 
name I will come unto thee and bless thee. 25. And if thou make me an altar of 
stones, thou shalt not build them with hewing ; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, 
thou dost pollute it. 26. And thou shalt not go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy 
nakedness be not discovered thereon. 18. ^ *1[ ^ 33. 

The chapters 20-23 contain that code of laws which is called the book of the cove- 
nant (24 : 7). It is clearly distinguishable into two parts — the general principles of 
morality common to all mankind, and the special enactments pertaining to the people 
of God. The former are called " the words of the Lord," which he spake with an 
audible voice, and wrote upon the two tables of stone (24 : 3 ; 20 : 1 ; 24 : 12). In 
reference to their number, they are called the ten words or commandments (34 : 28). 
The latter are described as the "judgments," or determinations of right between man 
and man. These are communicated to Moses, by whom they are delivered to the 
people by word of mouth, and also in writing for their permanent guidance. The ten 
commandments, with certain arrangements preliminary to the special legislation, are 
contained in the present chapter. 

1-17. The Decalogue.* The Masoretic mark for an open section at the end of the 
seventh verse indicates the primary division of this grand compend of law in the esti- 
mation of these venerable annotators. If the principle of division be the essence of 
the Deity, this distribution is undoubtedly correct. The previous paragraph, referring 
to the unity, spirituality, and deity of God, which belong to the essence of his nature, 
is of universal and eternal moment, and is thus fundamentally distinguished from the 
following one regarding the Sabbath and the relative duties of men, which are inci- 
dental to that effect of his creative action to which man belongs. The former of these 
paragraphs the authors of the Massorah subdivide into two close sections, and the 
latter into eight. The first commandment thus apparently includes verses 2-6, on the 
principle that polytheism and idolatry are identical, or two modes of apostasy from 
the one true God. But in fact, these two are not less distinct from one another than 
each of them is from that mode of degrading God which is noted in the seventh verse. 
The true principle is, that there are three ways of dishonoring God, or robbing him 
of his glory— the first referring to his unity, the second to his spirituality, and the 
third to his deity. Hence vs. 2, 3 must be regarded as the first commandment ; vs. 
4-6 as the second ; and vs. 7 as the third. The Talmud, the Targum of Johnathan, 
several Jewish Kabbis, Peter Martyr, and others, hold vs. 2 to be the first command- 

* In the previous chapter the Lord had put it to the people : Do ye desire to be in covenant with 
me ? They answered affirmatively. Here the law of the Decalogue comes in, not arbitrarily, but in 
natural sequence to this agreement. A people in covenant with me, says God, will keep my words. 
It is the same great principle in accordance with which men in covenant with God, through Christ, 
endeavor to keep his commandments. The religion of the Old Testament is the same in substance 
with that of the New.— J. H. 



EXODUS XX. 1-17. 135 

menfc. But the second and third verses are plainly distinguished as the positive and 
negative sides of the one commandment. The propriety of this threefold subdivision 
is further demonstrated by its obviating the necessity of subdividing the seventeenth 
verse into two commandments, in order to make up the number ten. If these two 
errors of subdivision be corrected, " the ten words" are divided into three and seven 
on a tenable and intelligible principle — the three referring to the immutable essence 
of G-od, the seven originally to man, the intelligent part of the six days' creation, and 
ultimately to the people whom God has taken for his peculiar treasure. It is well 
known that three has also a typical or mystical reference to God, and seven to the 
church. If the two tables of stone were to contain, as nearly as possible, the same 
quantity of matter without breaking up a commandment, the Masoretic division makes 
the nearest approach to this arrangement, the numbers of letters in each portion being 
respectively (errors excepted) two hundred and seventy-seven and three hundred and 
forty-three ; whereas, if the commandment concerning the Sabbath, containing two 
hundred and three letters, were transferred to the former side, the numbers would be 
four hundred and eighty and one hundred and forty. 

The Masoretic division, however, though it have a basis in the structure of the text, 
is founded on the idea of God, and not on the nature of law. It has a deep meta- 
physical import ; but it regards the document before us rather as a chapter of philoso- 
phy than a compend of law. Considered as a summary of law, this document bears 
on it only one obvious principle of primary division, namely, that of the party to 
whom the duty is owed. In this, its natural aspect, it contains two great divisions — 
the duty of man to God, in four commandments, and the duty of man to man, in the 
remaining six. It is strange that Augustine, having adopted this primary division, 
yet retained the two glaring faults of subdivision to which we have already adverted. 
In this way, though making his primary division at the end the eleventh verse, 
he still conceives that there are three in the first table and seven in the second. In 
this he has been followed by the Latin and Lutheran Churches. He generally makes 
the prohibition to covet another man's wife the ninth commandment, according to 
the arrangement of Deut. 5 : 21 ; in which he is not followed by these churches. 
Other Jewish and Christian interpreters, including Philo, Josephus, Irenaeus, 
Origen, Jerome, the Eastern and Reformed Churches, agree in correcting the errors 
of subdivision which are exhibited in the Masoretic text. The primary division 
here under consideration was adopted not only by Augustine, but by Origen, and 
subsequently by Calvin and his followers, and hence appears not only in the Latin 
and Lutheran, but also in the British Churches and the documents of the Westmin- 
ster Assembly of Divines. 

A third ground of primary division is the relation of equality or inequality between 
the parties to whom the duties refer. In this respect the Decalogue is divided into 
duties to superiors and duties to equals. Here the father and mother are associated 
with God as superiors, and all men including j)arents are classed together as equals. 
The point of division is carried forward to the end of the twelfth verse, and each 
table contains five of the " ten words." This is the primary division of Philo, Jose- 
phus, and the modern Jews, of the Eastern and some Reformed Churches. It has 
the advantage of giving a numerically equal partition of the ten commandments, and 
of bringing out into prominence the dignity of parents as the natural representatives 
of God to their children. Nevertheless it appears to be a more superficial ground of 
distribution than either of the others. Between God and man the line of demarca- 



136 THE MORAL LAW. 

tion is much more trenchant than between superiors and inferiors when men are 
found on both sides. 

The mere numerical equality of the two tables is a consideration of no moment ; 
and the dignity of parents is sufficiently indicated by the position of the lifth com- 
mandment in the Decalogue. For these reasons we adhere to the second of the 
fundamental divisions described, as the most logical and suitable for common use. 
Which of them was exhibited on the two tables of stone we need not speculate. 
But it is obvious that the second corres]ponds with that grand classification of all law 
which our Lord brings out into conspicuous prominence from the Old Testament, 
" the first and great commandment," to " love the Lord thy God " with all thy powers, 
and the second like unto it, to " love thy neighbor as thyself " (Matt. 22 : 35-40). 

1. And God. The use of this name of God here (the Everlasting, Eternal, 
Almighty) intimates that the fundamental principles of law have their standing in 
the abstract relations of theoretic truth antecedent to the actual creation of a universe 
of things. Spake. Whatever media, whether elementary or angelic, God was pleased 
to employ on this occasion, it is manifest that the speech was his own, not merely as 
to the words spoken, but as to the articulate sounds actually perceived by the ear. 
We are aware that vibrations of the air are the usual medium for affecting the sense 
of hearing, and we have no reason to doubt that these were employed on the present 
occasion. We are informed that Moses stood between the Lord and the people " to 
show them the word of the Lord " ; yet it is expressly said that it was the Lord that 
talked with them face to face in the mount (Deut. 5 : 4, 5). It appears from the Old 
and New Testament (Deut. 33 : 2, 3 ; Ps. 68 : 18 ; Acts 7 : 53 ; Gal. 3 : 19 ; Heb. 2 : 2) 
that angels were present and active at the promulgation of the law. The passages in 
the Old Testament merely intimate their presence. Those in the New point to some 
kind of agency. The phrase of Stephen (f Aa/^ere rov vouov eJc iharayd^ ayye'kuv) " re- 
ceived the law by the arrangements" or ministry " of angels," may be regarded as 
equivalent to that of Paul {(^laraydc 6i' ayyfAuv) " arranged " or ministered " through 
angels." Attention is to be paid to the preposition did, " through," which is used in 
the New Testament to denote the medium or intermediate agent, while the ultimate 
or proper agent is introduced by vito, "by" (Matt. 1 : 22 ; 2 : 15 ; 22 : 31 ; Acts 2, 16, 
28 : 25 ; Kom. 1:2). This serves to elucidate the historical description of the law in 
Heb. 2 : 2 (6 Ji' ayyeluv la7ir]Bel<3 loyoS), " the word spoken through angels." It is plain 
from the narrative now before us that God was the actual speaker, in accordance with 
which the angels are here described as intermediate agents in the accomplishment 
of the act. We recognize the instrumentality of the atmospheric vibi'ations in the 
formation of articulate sounds. And as we notice the agency of the lightning flash 
in exciting those reverberations which produce the inarticulate sound of thunder, we 
may be prepared to hear of the agency of angels who are spirits and ministers who 
are a flaming fire (Ps. 104 : 4), in awakening or regulating those discrete pulsations 
which constitute the articulate utterance of speech. How this was effected, what was 
the arranging or dispensing part of the angels in this great drama, as it is not revealed 
we do not pretend to say. But as the performer is the source of the music notwith- 
standing the concurrence of the bellows-blower, the organic pipes, and the ambient 
air, so we can understand that God was the real speaker of the ten words, notwith- 
standing the intervention of the dispensing angels and the vocal atmosphere. All 
these words. This oral communication consists of ten words or axioms of moral 
truth, that form a complete and orderly whole, and afford a broad basis for a system 



EXODUS XX. 3, 4. 137 

of ethical science. It is composed in tlie scriptural method of stating not a bare ab- 
stract principle, but a circumstantial concrete example, embodying the principle, 
ruling all like cases, and making a deeper and stronger impression on the mind. It 
presents the law, also, in the aspect of righteousness rather than goodness (Rom. 
5 : 7), because it is designed to restrain those who have already fallen into disobedi- 
ence. And hence it generally takes a negative form, and deals in prohibitions rather 
than requirements. It must be understood, however, that the prohibition involves 
the requirement, and we find that the requirement itself is given when it admits of 
equal or greater brevity of expression than the prohibition. 

THE riKST COMMANDMENT. 

3, 4. The more closely we examine these two verses, the more surely will we come 
to the conclusion of the Jewish Eabbis, that the former is an essential part of the 
first commandment. It states a positive fact in the conviction and for the acknowl- 
edgment of the people, to which the latter verse merely adds the negative precept 
that gives strict precision and exclusiveness to the previous statement. The latter 
verse presupposes the former, and is incomplete without it. The consequent " thou 
shalt have no other gods" needs the antecedent " thou hast me." Yet in the admira- 
ble economy of this address, the former of these verses serves at the same time for 
the preface to the whole. It has therefore a twofold bearing on what follows — it is an 
integral part of the first commandment, and it is an introduction to the whole Deca- 
logue. 

As an introduction to the whole law this verse identifies the parties to the covenant 
in the present instance. These are Jehovah and his people. It also lays down the 
only solid foundation of all obligation to keep this law. This is threefold : (1.) He 
who commands is the Loed, Jehovah, the Self-existent, the Creator, the absolute 
Author, and therefore Governor, of all persons and things. This is the primary rock 
on which all authority on his part and all obligation on ours rest. It is, moreover, 
not limited in its range, but coextensive with the universe of responsible being. It 
is therefore the fitting term to stand at the head of a code of law. (2.) He is thy God. 
Here " thy" is the characteristic word. " God " (cin^^) *^® Everlasting, Almighty, 
antecedent to all creation, is presupposed as common to the whole definition of the 
great Being. The possessive word " thy" points to the covenant between God and his 
people. When taken in the utmost depth of its meaning it involves two things : 
first, That God has chosen them to be his people ; and second, That he has sent his 
Spirit into their hearts, in consequence of which they have taken him to be their 
God. He that is born of the Spirit is become capable of spiritual acts. This is the 
sole ground of human ability to keep the commandments. To have God in this full 
sense for our God is, therefore, the meet preparation for doing his will. He is the 
Regenerator. He gives ability. Ability begets obligation. Will tenders obedience. 
3.) He is the Redeemer. He has brought his people out of the land of Mizraim, out of 
the house of bondage. This in the manner of Scripture and of Providence is the earnest 
and the guarantee of their deliverance from all other and greater kinds of bondage. 
The present is the type of a grander future. We must descend the stream of revela- 
tion to the New Testament before we fathom the depths of this great deliverance. • 
But the redemption from Egypt is the immediate benefit before the minds of this 
people. It obviously binds them to gratitude and devotedness. Thus the api)eal of 



138 THE MOKAL LAW. 

God touches the inmost springs of their moral nature, and draws them by the three- 
fold tie of creation, sanctification, and redemption, to reverence, obedience, and 
affection. 

The attentive observer will note the unity of the party addressed, indicated by the 
singular pronoun " thy, thee." God's people are one in a very profound sense, as they 
have one Creator, Eegenerator, and Kedeemer (Gen. 17 : 7 ; Ex. 4 : 22 ; Gal. 3 : 16 ; 
Eph. 4 : 2-16). But this pointed form of address at the same time brings home the 
obligation of the law of heaven to the individual as well as the community. It is an- 
other instance of the happy choice of words in this piece. 

As the affirmative part of the first commandment this verse admonishes the people 
that Jehovah, the Creator, who has singled them out as his own, and has redeemed 
them from bondage, is their God. This is itself the root of all obligation, and this 
obligation is expressed in the word "thy," which asserts the connection between 
creature and Creator. This brings out the relation of right, God had the right of 
creation to man, and he has the right of regeneration and redemption to his people. 
Man has, inherently, no right to anything. These two propositions are the basis of 
all eternal law. God made a grant to man on his creation with a necessary reserve 
(see on Gen. 2 : 15-17). Man infringed on this reserve under temptation, and so for- 
feited the divine grant. Yet God bears with man, proclaims his mercy, and accepts 
the returning penitent who trusts in his word. It is obvious that such come under 
new obligations to the Almighty, reinforcing the great principles of moral truth. 

3. The first commandment in its negative form refers to the unity of God, It en- 
joins the owning of this unity. It is therefore against polytheism. This precept is 
of universal obligation. The idea of God, the Everlasting and Almighty Jehovah, 
the Creator and Upholder, involves in its very nature the idea of unity ; and so this 
negative verse is implied in the affirmative one that precedes. But the nations had 
lost the consciousness of their own unity as a race, and with this the consciousness of 
the unity of their common Creator. Each princiisality, each town, and at length each 
family, began to regard the god of its erring fancy as different in individuality from 
that of others. The step was easy to the recognition of gods many and lords many. 
Hence it became necessary to add the definite exclusion of all other imaginable ob- 
jects of worship to the express acknowledgment of the Lord God. The original form 
of the expression is here worthy of attention, " There shall not be to thee other gods 
upon my face." Here it is demanded that the non-existence of other gods be recog- 
nized. This presupposes the affirmative of such non-existence. Such gods are 
C^pi")^ nonentities. nTT' K^ "there shall not be," is directly opposed to htIN 
" I Am," and to ^'if]i the Author of existence (3 : 14 ; 6 : 3), the exclusive names of 
the God of creation and of covenant. Before me is literally" upon my face." It sup- 
poses those other gods to be set up before the true God as antagonists in the eye of 
God, and as casting a shade over his eternal being and incommunicable glory in the 
eye of the worshipper. 

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

4-6. The second commandment refers to the worship of God. It guards the imma- j 
teriality or spirituality of his nature. It opposes idolatry, that is, the worship of an 
idol or image of God, or of God through an idol. We are not to make, worship, or 
serve an idol. Any graven image. This is a carved image of stone or wood. Any 



EXODUS XX. 4-6. 139 

likeness. The word njlDD ^^notes any form presented to the eye (Num. 12 : 8 ; Job 
4 : 16), and therefore includes all sorts of pictures as well as images. It is probable 
that the Israelites were acquainted with the pictorial representations of idols in Egypt. 
At all events, the specific instance involves the general rule, that every kind of visible 
similitude is to be avoided in the worship of the invisible God, In heaven above. The 
Egyptians had images of celestial, terrestrial, and aquatic objects of worship (Wilkin- 
son). The loater under the earih. It is important to notice that " under" here means 
" lower in level, " lest the Scriptures be accused of propounding the theory that the 
interior of our sphere is filled with water. 5. Fo?'. The reason here assigned applies 
equally to the first and second commandments, and warrants the Masoretes in placing 
the verses (2-6) containing them in close contiguity. A jealous God. The passions of 
a moral being have their right as well as their wrong use. Hence anger, jealousy, 
hatred, and revenge are ascribed to God, not as passions, but as the feelings of a holy 
being in regard to that which is evil (Deut. 32 : 21, 22, 35). As the Judge of the uni- 
verse, God has the supreme right not only to entertain these feelings, but also to carry 
out their holy behests in the administration of his everlasting dominion. This is the 
first distant allusion to the semblance of the covenant between God and his people to a 
marriage contract. Visiting the iniquity, pursuing and overtaking the offender with 
condign punishment. There is significance in the phrase " visiting the iniquity," as it 
shows that the sons are not involved in the penalty if they are not found in the in- 
iquity of their fathers. The iniquity here spoken of is that of polytheism or idolatry, 
of having or making any other God. For the idol, or the being it represents, is not 
the true God, but another god, after the fashion of a vain imagination (Rom. 1 : 21-25). 
He that makes and worships an idol has lost the knowledge of the true God. This 
iniquity is called the iniquity of the fathers, inasmuch as it originates with them, and 
is only perpetuated in the sons who adhere to it. The history of the world shows that 
the ungodliness of the fathers is, as a rule of fallen nature, followed by the sons. 
Only grace interrupts the succession of sin. Upon the sons^ upon the third and upon 
the fourth generation. This is a timely guard against a common error to which men have 
been prone in all ages, namely, that the opinions and customs of their forefathers, 
even though they be wrong, are an excuse or justification for the 'sons walking in the 
same errors of judgment and conduct. The fathers will have to account for their own 
iniquity, not only as men, but as fathers setting a bad example to their household. 
But the sons who, on arriving at the exercise of a natural judgment, walk in the same 
iniquity will be treated as responsible beings, and visited for the iniquity which they 
have made their own.* Many evil consequences, indeed, such as poverty, disease, and 
infamy, befall the children of ungodly and vicious parents. But a profounder truth 
is taught in this passage, and the example of it was patent before the eyes of the audi- 
ence assembled in Horeb. The forefathers of the Egyptians had departed from the 
living God, and devised for themselves the eight gods of the first order, the twelve of 
the second, and the seven of the third, besides their countless modifications and sub- 
'divisions of the divine essence. Their sons of the existing generation not only fol- 
lowed, but outstript, their fathers in the abominations of superstition and deification ; 
they contemptuously ignored the true God, whom their fathers acknowledged (Gen. 
41), and trampled upon his people. In this instance the Lord had signally visited the 

* They are, moreover, doubly guilty, Ijecanpe they disregard the protests of God Almighty in his 
providence, against the sins of iheir forefathers. Each generation has more light on this point than 
its predecessor, if it will but be willing to see.— J. H. 



140 THE MORAL LAW. 

iniquity of the fathers upon the sons in the ten plagues, and in the overwhelming of 
their hosts in the Eed Sea. Upon all the " gods of Egypt he had executed judgment, 
and caused the Egyptians to know and acknowledge that he was the Lord (7:5; 8:8; 
9 :27 ; 12 : 12). 

With these tremendous judgments of the past few months still fresh upon their 
memories, the awe-struck hearers would have a vivid conception of what was meant 
by the jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
and fourth generation. The despotic and barbarous measures of the new king that 
knew not Joseph had been commenced in the time of Moses's father, and therefore 
about four generations from the time then present. Each generation had only been 
advancing in the severity with which they oppressed the chosen people of the Lord, 
until their cry ascended to heaven, and the Lord interposed for their vindication. 
Overwhelming was the visitation for their aggravated and infatuated hostility to God 
and his people. God admonishes the world by terrible examples of his righteous in- 
dignation ; and then pauses to leave men the full exercise of their free-agency. 0/ 
them that hate me. To have or to make another god is to hate the true God. Here let 
it be observed that in the estimate of God there is no difference between forsaking 
him for another and hating him. The negative state of indifference to him or incli- 
nation to another necessarily involves the positive state of hatred to the true God. 
Nothing can be more base or blamable than to forsake the verj^ Author of our being 
and all our blessings for the mere phantom of a delusive imagination. It is the special 
temptation of descendants, whether in the nation or the family, to follow their an- 
cestors in apostasy from God or the truth which he has revealed concerning himself 
and his ways. Hence at the birth of this nation whom he has chosen for himself he 
lifts up a monitory voice, reminding them of the judgment of Egypt, and warning 
them to beware of incurring a like visitation. To allow free scope for that voluntary 
return to confession and obedience which can alone be pleasing to God, he may in 
long-suffering withhold the full force of his correcting hand even to the fourth gen- 
eration. But a nation or a family that neglects opportunities of knowing God and 
his mercy need not expect to be long without the dread experience of his power and 
justice. 

6. And showing mercy. Mercy is that form of the divine goodness which reason 
dare not affirm and revelation alone can proclaim. And- to show mercy or do kind- 
ness, not to requite merit or reward righteousness, is the most favorable language 
that can be employed concerning any portion of a fallen race. It forms the contrast 
here to " visiting iniquity." Unto thousands. Here is a cheering prospect and a sweet 
assurance to godly parents. " Thousands" may be fairly understood to mean the 
thousandth generation, and therefore to intimate the possibility, if not the proba- 
bility, of piety becoming hereditary, or being perpetuated in the given line to the 
end of time. And the comforting promise is, that God will never fail to show mercy 
to all successive generations that humbly and thankfully own him for their God. 
We observe how mercy rejoices over judgment : God visits iniquity unto the fourth 
generation ; he shows mercy unto the thousandth. Of them that love me and keep my 
commandments. The objects of the divine mercy are those who have the Lord for 
their God, and worship him in spirit and in truth. They meet his mercj^ with an 
earnest, confiding gratitude ; and this feeling displays itself in " loving him and 
keeping his commandments." There is an intense interest connected with the ex- 
pression " them that love me." It plainly intimates that those who have no other 



EXODUS XX. 7. 141 

God before tlie true God, and make no other God beside him, are those who at the 
same time love him. It proves that the negative quality of not forsaking the true 
God is understood to imply the positive quality of being faithful to him and loving 
him. This gives a new character to the whole Decalogue. It now becomes not a 
mere negative law of righteousness, but a positive law of love. This principle apply- 
ing to the first two precepts will extend to the whole. Besides, if we love him that 
begat, we shall love those who are begotten ; and therefore love to God will naturally 
result in love to all his creatures. This closing sentence would sink deep into the 
hearts of those reverential auditors in Horeb's glens. It forms the bright counter- 
part to the dark menace conveyed in the preceding one. As the former has its dread 
exemplification in the judgments executed on Egypt, so the latter finds its hopeful 
illustration in the chosen race. Those who then stood before the mount of God were 
about the tenth generation from Abraham, the father of the faithful. The faith of 
their great forefather was still the profession of all, and the inward experience of a 
goodly number, in that vast multitude. And God had been unchangeably faithful in 
" showing mercy" to them during all that interval, and especially to the tenth genera- 
tion who had been brought out of the land of bondage and were on their way to a 
land of blessing. Here, then, was the warning against apostasy on the one hand and 
the encouragement to fidelity on the other, presented in the most striking examples 
to this new-born nation. 

It is interesting to find the glad tidings of the mercy of God presupposed and in- 
cidentally proclaimed in this address from the mount of God. It is important also to 
note the place where the two alternatives of judgment and mercy are inserted in this 
legislative address. They come after the two precepts enjoining the exclusive and 
direct owning and worshipping of the true God. This indicates that to have the Lord 
for our God, and to have and to make no other god, is the basis of all religion, and 
the substance of the covenant between God and his people. All that follows after 
is the mere carrying out of this fundamental and fully expressed principle. This 
deep and important thought fully bears out the Masorah in throwing verses 2-6 into 
one paragraph. 

THE THIED COMMANDMENT. 

7. After the acknowledgment of the One Great Spirit as our God comes the manner 
in which we ought to treat him. The name of God is that " by which he makes him- 
self known." In the realistic style of Scripture, where names are significant, the 
name indicates the nature of God. It is expressive, therefore, of his godhead or deity. 
It especially intimates that great attribute which is the sum and substance of the di- 
vine nature. Power belongeth unto God (Ps. 62 : 11 ; Eom. 1 : 20) as the essence of 
his being ; for power implies freedom, and freedom will, and will intelligence ; 
power, will, and intellect are the three essentials of a spirit. To take the name of God 
in vain is to violate his essence, power, truth. This commandment is therefore di- 
rected against blasphemy, perjury, and all other modes of dishonoring the name of 
God. In its form it serves to illustrate that feature in the style of Scripture accord- 
ing to which a plain and familiar case is set forth to embody a general principle. 
And hence in a profounder sense it is opposed to pantheism, naturalism, creaturism, 
or the applying of the name of God to the creation or any part of it, or dealing with 
it as if it belonged to a creature. 

The sin here forbidden has been as prevalent as polytheism or idolatry. It has 



142 THE MORAL LAW. 

assumed all forms, from the deification of a fetish to that of the sun, moon, and stars, 
or of the universe. It has appeared not only as a superstition, but as a philosophy, 
falsely so called. It consists in the ascription either of divine attributes to a creature, 
or of creature attributes to God. The latter is the form chiefly contemplated in the 
command, as it is addressed to those whose God is the Lord. It tends to atheism. 

Will not acquit him. There is here an allusion to the " visiting of iniquity" men- 
tioned in the previous passage. The iniquity of taking the name of God in vain is 
akin to that of having another god, or making an idol before the living and true God. 
It is a form of apostasy and ungodliness, and therefore involves the same guilt, doom, 
and penalty. This raises the third commandment to the same gravity of character 
with the former two. The investigation of the nature of that crime which it pro- 
hibits has led us to the same conclusion regarding its primary importance. 

The first commandment, then, guards the unity of God ; the second, his spirit- 
uality ; the third, his deity, or essence. In the first we are forbidden to make God 
one of many, when he is the only One ; in the second, to liken him to a corruptible 
image, when he is the incorruptible Spirit ; in the third, to identify him in any way 
with the creature, when he is the Creator. The three combine to form the funda- 
mental law of monotheism ; but at the same time they present an adumbration of the 
Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is God, the invisible one ; the Son is 
the express image of the Father (Heb. 1:2); and the Spirit is the inward power or 
essence of God. 

It is manifest that the ontological division of this solemn proclamation from Sinai 
takes place at this point. All that goes before refers to the essence of God ; all that 
follows relates, not to his essence, but to his work. This division rests on the 
theological aspect of the " ten words." 

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 

8-11. This grand compend of law now descends from the personal rights of God to 
the day of his rest. The former precepts are purely moral ; the fourth is partly moral 
and partly positive. The principle that man's time should be divided between labor 
under the eye of God and leisure for the solemnities of his worship is moral. The 
apportionment according to the example of God is positive. The first three precepts 
are of universal obligation whenever and wherever there is a rational creature. The 
fourth is specially binding on man, being founded on the six days' work and the 
seventh day's rest in that creation of which he formed the crowning part. It is therefore 
to him of perpetual significance and obligation. Referring to a day of rest for ap- 
pearing before God, it inculcates religion and prohibits secularity. It has a twofold 
form : affirmative — " Eemember the Sabbath day to hallow it ;" negative—" In it thou 
shalt not do any work," 

8. Bememher. Pointing to an event of the past it is the precept of memory. It 
deals with the commemorative principle. This is in keeping with the constitution of 
man. Memory is the faculty of history ; and the remembrance of events that have a 
momentous influence on the interests of man is congenial with all the tendencies of 
his nature. The day. It is not without significance that the law contains a command- 
ment concerning time, and none concerning space. Human action occupies a certain 
time, while it has no definite relation to space. It also implies forethought, delibera- 
tion, purpose, volition. It involves an agent and a patient, a cause and an efEect. 



EXODUS XX. 9, 10. 143 

As a course of conduct runs through a certain length of time, action and duration 
come to be measures of each other. Hence history and chronology are inseparably 
associated. Spirit may be said to be to time as matter is to space. The one fills 
time with the successive acts of its free powers ; as the other occupies space with the 
widespread field of its constant forces. The day is the natural unit of time, and 
affords the measure for the division of time in the fourth commandment. It extends 
from sunset to sunset (Lev, 23 : 32). ^ahhath, a rest, not that of sleep or death, but 
vacation from business, leisure for converse with God, To hallow it, set it apart from 
the rest of time for sacred rest. 

9. Six days shalt thou labor. There is here an injunction to labor in so far as it is 
necessary for the support of life. There is at the same time a permission to employ 
six successive days in labor. Experience proves that this is more than sufficient for 
raising from the ground the sustenance needful for man. And do all thy work. Work 
or business is a more extensive term than labor. The latter refers to outdoor work 
or manual labor, requiring effort and entailing toil ; the former includes, moreover, 
the routine of domestic operations, the management of affairs, the transactions of 
buying and selling, and all that is usually meant by the term " business." 

10. But the seventh day. While six days are allowed for business, the seventh is 
assigned to leisure. The number seven has acquired a typical sacredness from its 
application to the Sabbath. The rest of God after six days of creative activity, in 
which a habitation was prepared, and man, the intended inhabitant, created, is the 
historical foundation for the Sabbath. But the proportion of time for labor and for 
rest is not only derived from the history but adapted to the nature of man. The 
operations of the corporeal frame consist of three parts : first, that which is involun- 
tary and without intermission, as the action of the heart and other internal function- 
aries of the vital organism ; second, that which is instinctive, as the travail of the ani- 
mal powers in search of food, shelter, and other natural requirements ; and third, 
that which is rational, as the effort to attain a certain end beyond the merely animal 
wants. The first part of the movement is kept in constant vigor by the regular sup- 
ply of food. The second has its recompense in the natural repose of sleep. The 
third remains over, to be relieved by a recurring period of rest to be determined by 
reason. As on the whole about a third part of the exertion of our powers may be due 
to this last source, and that for the half of the natural day, it follows that a sixth part 
of each natural day needs its compensating repose. After six days, therefore, a 
seventh day of rest seems needful to repair the waste and weariness accruing from 
voluntary rational effort. At all events the special activity of the rational powers 
evidently stands in need of being recruited by a third provision, not of the animal, 
but of the rational nature, and that is plainly the Sabbath. 

A Sabbath to the Lord thy God. Eest and dedication to God are the properties here 
assigned to the Sabbath. The observance of the Sabbath connects man with the 
origin of his race, with the six days' creation, and with the Creator himself. The 
connection is manifestly a historical one. He that observes the Sabbath aright holds 
the historj- of that which it celebrates to be authentic, and thei'efore believes in the 
creation of the first man, in the creation of a fair abode for man in the space of six 
days, in the primeval and absolute creation of the heavens and the earth, and, as a 
necessaiy antecedent to all thi?, in the Creator, who a.t the close of his latest creative 
effort rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath thus becomes a sign by which the 
believers in a historical revelation are distinguished from those who have allowed 



144 THE MOKAL LAW. 

these great facts to fade from their remembrance (31 : 13). The leisure of the Sabbath- 
day, moreover, affords the opportunity for the holy convocation, and for the public 
and private exercises of praise, prayer, reading, expounding, and applying the word 
of God. The observance of the Sabbath, then, becomes the characteristic of those 
who cherish the recollections of the origin of their race, and who worship God not 
merely as Elohim, the Everlasting Almighty, but as Jehovah, the historical God, the 
Creator, who has revealed himself to man from the dawn of his existence as the God 
of love, and afterward of mercy and grace, of promise and performance. 

Thou shali not do any work. Both labor and business (nil^y ^^^ firN /"D' *^® latter 
including the former) are excluded on the weeldy Sabbath. Thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
daughter. These are the free. The remainder, commencing without the copulative 
conjunction, are the bond. It is remarkable that this enumeration intimates the 
duties of superiors to their inferiors. It points to the right and duty of parents, 
masters, and hosts to restrain those under them from, sin and train them to holiness. 
It makes the mother, the wife, the mistress, not subject, in this respect, but equal to 
the husband. It marks the accountability of owners also. In like manner it affirms 
the right of children, servants, and strangers to the observance of the Sabbath, and, 
by parity of reason, to the free exercise of all other religious duties. It inculcates the 
kind treatment of the lower animals. Especially it claims the seventh-day rest for the 
domestic animals that labor for and with man in the pursuit of his rational ends, I'hy 
stranger that is within thy gates (see on 12 : 19). They were sojourners, not yet incor- 
jj orated by circumcision into the communitj^ of Israel. 

11. For. A reason is assigned for the observance of this precept, as there was for 
all that preceded it. God requires a rational service. The reason is historical. It 
refers to the original division of time into six days of work and a seventh day of rest 
on the occasion of the creation of man. Then God not only rested after the six days 
of creation, but blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. He thus instituted a seventh- 
day Sabbath of perpetual obligation, and therefore now enforces its constant remem- 
brance and observance (see on Gen. 2 : 1-3). Eeminding him of his exalted origin 
and bringing him into contact with his Maker, it awakens in his breast all those feel- 
ings of joy and thankfulness which the possession of conscious being naturally evokes. 
From the essence of God we naturally pass to his action. As the former three pre- 
cepts indicate his intrinsic essence, so the fourth reveals the foundation of his 
authority over the creature. The act of creation is the origin of all title to the creat- 
ure and to the obedience of the intelligent creation. The creation of man is com- 
memorated in the fourth commandment. Hence it contains the fountain-head of all 
authority in God and all duty in man. The former three are negative. This is 
affirmative. The former regard eternity. This refers to time, and deals with man's 
conduct toward God, dividing it into innocent business and recreation on six days, 
and holy leisure for converse with God on the seventh. The absolute authority of 
God is no less important to us than his necessary being. The former three commands 
relate exclusively to God. The fourth introduces man on the stage of existence. It 
forms, therefore, the natural transition from the rights of God to those of man. 

Regarding the ten words as a law, we are now come to the point of main division. 
A law determines what is due to each class of persons, and therefore may be divided 
according to the various rights due, or the various parties to whom they are due. In 
a primary division these two principles come ultimately to the same thing, inasmuch 
as the nature of the right depends entirely on the nature of the person to whom it is 



EXODUS XX. 12. 145 

due. The present summary of law is divided on the latter principle into the duties 
of man to God, and of man to man. The subdivisions that flow from such a primary 
classification are merely the analysis of the sum of right due to each class of individuals. 

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 

12-17. We are now come to that series of commandments which contain our duty to 
man. This is divided into our duty to superiors, contained in one, and our duty to 
equals, contained in the remaining five. 

12. This commandment prescribing our diity to superiors is properly arranged after 
the four that determine our duty to the great Supreme. It is also the meet companion 
of the fourth, inasmuch as they are both founded on the history and nature of man : 
the former pointing to the origin of the race ; the latter to that of the individual. 
Honor thy father and thy mother. We have here a beautiful instance of the scriptural 
method of laying down a principle by enunciating its most striking and important 
example. The parents are the only natural superiors, for they are, under God, the 
authors of the existence of those children for whose maintenance and training they 
labor with all the assiduity of natural affection. This sublime scheme of general 
jurisprudence does not condescend to notice the ephemeral arrangements of artificial 
society, but selects the primeval distinction of parent and child as the theme of legis- 
lation concerning superiors and inferiors. The parent stands to the child in the re- 
lations of progenitor, benefactor, teacher, and ruler. As progenitor he is, under God, 
the author of the child's existence ; and this gives him a rightful authority over the 
child second only to that supreme authority which creation gives to God over both, 
parent and child. Parental affection moves the father, and especially the mother, to 
those unwearied efforts of tender, loving, fostering care that are demanded by the help^ 
lessness of infancy and childhood, and forms the type and shadow of that disinterested 
beneficence which comes out in other circumstances in the priestly office. The wisdoia 
and experience of age qualify him to cultivate the intellectual, active, and moral pow- 
ers of his child ; in the discharge of which duties he foreshadows the functions of the 
prophet, the teacher, and the preacher. His authority as parent entitles him, and 
his affection and experience befit him, to exercise a benignant sway over his child, and 
therein to adumbrate the affairs of the elder or ruler in the political and ecclesiastical 
worlds. 

The "father" and "mother" are distinctly specified to indicate that they are equal in 
authority, and therefore equally entitled to that "honor" which the mother will 
attract by her love and the father will enforce by his power. This honor naturally re- 
solves itself into reverence for the authors of our being, gratitude for the nameless 
blessings of a home, docility to the patient and persevering educators of our infant 
minds, and obedience to the commands of our natural superiors. The patriarch was 
father, priest, prophet, and king in his household or clan. In the more complex 
arrangements of nations and empires the magistrate and the priest came out into prom- 
inence and influence as distinct orders, and even the teacher sometimes asserted a 
standing and a rank for himself in the social scale. But all these subdivisions of 
authority find their origin and standard in the parental relation and the fifth com- 
mandment. This commandment enforces all lawful authority, and is opposed to all 
the levelling and deranging fancies of anarchy and democracy. 

That thy days may he loruj in the land. This is the first commandment with promise. 



146 THE MORAL LAW. 

To comprehend all the meaning of this we must remember that the personal pronoun 
" thou, thy," is to be taken both in a collective and individual sense. In the collective 
sense it refers to the whole people, and conveys the assurance that compliance with 
this command will prolong or perpetuate their possession of the promised land. In 
the previous commandment parents were required to impress upon their children the 
observance of the Sabbath and the maintenance of that reverence for God, remembrance 
of his creative power and authority, anddevotiontohis worship which are inseparably 
associated with the day. The dutiful attention of children to these instructions will 
serve to perpetuate fidelity to God among the people from generation to generation, 
and therevt^ith to perpetuate the inheritance of the land of their forefathers. On the 
other hand, the neglect of the parents to enforce, or of the children to maintain, the 
observance of the Sabbath, and all its associations with the origin of their race and 
with the Creator and Preserver of their being, will inevitably tend to apostasy from 
the true God, and consequent expulsion from the land of all their natural and religious 
affections. The subsequent history of this people to the present day forms a striking 
comment on the sentence now before us. The great economic law, however, that filial 
obedience is the main foundation of national stability and prosperity, is not peculiar 
to the Jews. The domestic virtues have in all nations been the prolific source of social 
greatness and progress. 

The personal application, however, of this promise is no less just and important. 
Length of days or of inheritance is a law running through the moral government of 
God, counteracted, no doubt, and modified by the interference of other laws that con- 
tribute no less to the ultimate, if not immediate, good of the individual. For if life be 
shortened to a child of God, he only enters the sooner upon a better and higher life ; 
and if the inheritance be shorter than the life, yet he cannot be deprived of that pre- 
cious and present inheritance that all things, even affliction, work together for his good. 

Which the Lord thy God giveth thee, is going to give thee, is in the purpose and process 
of giving thee, as the imperfect or current participle denotes. The mention of this 
circumstance concerning the land favors the wider interpretation of this promise, as 
it was to the whole people the Lord was about to give the land. It does not however 
preclude its reference to individuals. It is to be noted that if we regard the second 
verse as an integral part of the first commandment, the phrase " the Lord thy God '' 
occurs in each of the first five commandments. 

This is the third and last point at which the main division of the Decalogue may be 
placed ; the ground of distinction being the rank of the parties to whom the rights are 
assigned. The first five refer to the rights of superiors, and the second five to those 
of equals. But the second point of division is much more marked than this. The 
contradistinction between God and man is incomparably .more important than that 
between superiors and equals, when among the superiors God and man are classed 
together, and opposed to men as equals. It is obvious that the fourth and fifth com- 
mandments form the easy and gradual transition from the higher to the lower sphere 
of legislation. They stand together in many respects. They have a positive form. 
The one introduces us to the family of heaven ; the other to the family of earth. The 
former touches incidentally on the duties of parents and masters ; the latter relates to 
the duties of children and servants. The one respects the " honor" due to the Great 
Father of all ; the other that which is due to his natural representative and type 
among men. 
, 13-17. These verses contain the five precepts regarding equals. Three of these refer 



I 



EXODUS XX. 13-15. 147 

to deeds, one to words, and one to thoughts. They guard the life, the chastity, the 
property, and the character of our neighbor, not only from the outward act, but from 
the inward thought of violence. It is, indeed, in all cases, the intent that gives moral 
character to the act. 

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 

13. This commandment protects life, and is against all endeavors that endanger the 
life of our neighbor. As there is no object expressed, it prohibits suicide as well as 
homicide. It also forbids violence, passion, lust, intemperance in eating or drinking, 
or anything that tends to shorten life. The peculiar sacredness of human life lies in 
this, that man is a responsible being, liable to be rewarded or punished according to 
his deeds. Life is the reward of obedience, and death is the penalty of disobedience. 
The circumstance that this life is to the sinner the season of invitation to return to God, 
who will have mercy on him, deepens immeasurably the crime of cutting short his life 
in the midst of his impenitence. All these considerations are wrapped up in the para- 
mount reflection that man was created in the image of God. Life is also used in a 
pregnant sense in Scripture. It rises from the mere natural life to the spiritual life, 
which is rekindled in the dead soul by the Spirit of life through the word of life. 
This widens immensely the scope of this commandment. And if we now advance 
from the mere negation of refraining from evil to the position of abounding in good, 
we behold opening before us a boundless prospect of well-doing for the children of 
God. 

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. 

14. This commandment sanctions marriage and prohibits fornication, adultery, and 
all unchaste acts. Among mankind, who are naturally gifted with reason and con- 
science, the cohabiting of the sexes ought to be after the solemn compact of lawful 
wedlock by mutual consent. Marriage ought to be between one man and one woman 
who are not within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity. Nothing dissolves its 
bonds but adultery. Married life is not sinful or defiling. On the other hand it calls 
forth some of the tenderest, fairest, finest feelings of humanity ; and gives scope for 
as high and holy duties as any relation in life. This commandment guards the home 
from the external intruder on its chastity, as the fifth does from the internal disturber 
of its peace. 

The formation of the woman out of the man indicates in a striking and beautiful 
manner the unity of the married pair. The fourth and fifth commandments concur 
with this in presupposing a parity of right between the husband and wife. The law 
of Moses and the law of Christ agree in vindicating the natural right of woman 
against the arbitrary might of man. And Judaism and Christianity have been honor- 
ably distinguished among the nations for respecting the rights of the weaker sex. 
This is the more remarkable, as they both originated in the East, where the harem 
prevails. 

Marriage has been peculiarly ennobled by being employed to typify the union be- 
tween God and his people ; while apostasy has been odiously branded as fornication 
and adultery. 

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 

15. This precept guards property, and is directed against taking that which does 
not belong to us, whether by violence or fraud. The most heinous breach of this 



148 THE MORAL LAW. 

commandment is the stealing of man. If property be taken in a large sense, this 
precept includes the two preceding, as the life and the body are strictly property. 
If it embrace what belongs to another as a debt or a right, then this commandment 
covers the whole field of relative duty. The Maker is the only ultimate proprietor. 
Not a tree of the garden belongs to Adam till the Creator makes the definite grant. 
All men are equal in point of natural right. The only natural superiority is that of 
the parent. All other authority of man over man is by covenant or tacit consent. 
This, then, is the most comprehensive of all the commandments. And it occupies 
the central place among the laws between equals. 

The three preceding commandments refer to action, and in this we see a warrant 
for grouping them in one verse, as is done in some manuscripts. They also bear a 
certain analogy to the first two or three commandments. To have another god is a 
practical annihilation of the true God. Idolatry is a spiritual adultery. Stealing, in 
a large sense, will include taking the name of God in vain. It is in one sense the 
only thing of which we can rob God. 

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 

16. This commandment refers to speech, enjoins truth, and is directed against false- 
hood. It covers the same ground as the preceding three ; as falsehood may imperil 
life, chastity, or property. It assumes its darkest form when the falsehood is uttered 
avowedly in the presence of God, who searches the heart, and will bring every word 
into judgment. In this aspect it bears the same relation to the third commandment 
which the three preceding do to the first two or three. Besides the common appli- 
cations of this law, its importance is enhanced by the circumstances that most of our 
information concerning the present or the past comes to us in the form of language, 
and that our knowledge of God, of his work, and of his grace is conveyed to us in his 
word. The eternal, then, as well as the temporal, interests of man are linked with 
spoken and written words. How awful, then, the responsibility of those who are 
endowed with the faculty of speech. 

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 

17. This commandment refers to the thoughts, inculcates disinterestedness, and 
prohibits indulging a desire after that which belongs to another. The first clause is 
followed by a closed space indicating a subordinate separation from the following 
clauses. The verb is also repeated at the beginning of the second clause, intimating 
a marked distinction, and warranting a certain pause, though not a subdivision of the 
Decalogue. The transposal of the first two clauses in Deut. 5 : 21 is sufl&cient to 
show that in the estimate of the transcriber the two were included in one of the ten 
words. This precept, also, is coextensive with the three precepts referring to the 
outward acts. A man cannot covet his neighbor's life ; but he may desire his death, 
if it would make way for his acquiring possession of any coveted thing that belonged 
to him. In the arrangement of the present book, " the house" is placed first. This 
is generally understood of the material building in which a man dwells. We prefer 
regarding the prominent thought implied in it here to be the family, including the 
parents, and especially the sons and daughters of all living generations ; inasmuch as, 
(1) the other objects specified are living creatures, and " anything that is thy neigh- 
bor' s" includes the goods and lands ; (2) the children are not otherwise mentioned, 



EXODUS XX. 17. 149 

though of more importance than servants or cattle ; (3) a due subordination is thus 
introduced into the details, the house coming first, as including the parents and chil- 
dren, the wife next, as the separable part of the neighbor, and then the servants, cat- 
tle, and inanimate objects. In Deuteronomy the prominent thought in " house" seems 
to be the material building ; and hence the wife, who is also the mother, and includes 
the children, is placed first, the house and the field are associated together in the 
next place, the service by which these are rendered comfortable and profitable has 
the third rank, and the products of their labor hold the last. The arrangement in 
Exodus corresponds closely with the three precepts concerning the outward acts ; as 
the sixth commandment bears upon the family in its widest sense, the seventh especially 
on the wife, and the eighth in some sense upon the servants, the cattle, and the 
goods. 

The improper desire is the root of all evil. It can seldom be reached by human 
legislation. But it is open to the Searcher of hearts. The intent is that which, in the 
last resort, determines the moral character of the act. This last " word " is, therefore, 
the interpreting clause of the whole Decalogue (Kom. 7 : 7). It raises the code im- 
measurably above every code of man, who looketh on the outward appearance of con- 
duct, and at once renders it worthy of the Lord who looketh on the heart. Covetous- 
ness here includes envy, malice, and every other selfish or unholy state of the feel- 
ings. Its prohibition involves the inculcation not merely of disinterestedness, but of 
all the forms of unselfish benevolence. This commandment is, therefore, virtually 
the law of love, and in this positive sense gives that loftier aspect to the Decalogue, 
the traces of which have been already noticed. 

As the ninth commandment is related to the third, so the tenth has several points 
of relation with the fourth : (1. ) It enjoins disinterestedness, and the observance of 
a seventh day's rest is a most powerful and practical demand for the same state of the 
affections. (2.) It contains an enumeration of the inmates and surroundings of the 
home ; and the fourth commandment does the same, and with much of the same in- 
tent. (3.) It strikes at the root of all inhumanity in the words and acts of men ; and 
the law of the Sabbath strikes at the root of all ungodliness in a world that is prone 
to secularity. There is no command of the Decalogue by which the public sense of 
religious obligation has been so deeply tried and found wanting as the fourth ; and 
the obvious and almost avowed spring of all worldly opposition and natural antipathy 
to it is the selfish, grasping, avaricious spirit which is condemned in the tenth. 

This brings out a curious proof of the internal coherence of these ten words. If we 
connect together the first and second commandment, and likewise form the sixth, 
seventh, and eighth, that relate to the outward conduct, into one group, we bring to 
view a remarkable analogy between the former and the latter ; and the same analogy 
appears between the third and ninth, and between the fourth and tenth. Thus the 
law is found to fall naturally into a sevenfold division, three members of which relat- 
ing to God are before the fifth commandment, and three relating to man after this cen- 
tral precept relating to parents. The number ten points to the perfection of this 
code, and this internal septenary arrangement to its holiness. There is, therefore, a 
wonderful display of unity and comprehensiveness in this moral discourse. While 
adopting the concrete form that comes home to the common mind, it embodies at the 
same time in its familiar examples all the great abstract principles of moral truth. 
The mild voice of a paternal authority is heard in it, inasmuch as while it warns the 
decided or defiant apostate of certain retribution, it whispers mercy to every returning 



150 THE MOEAL LAW. 

penitent. It is addressed, no doubt, to the sons of Israel, and alludes to their recent 
deliverance from bondage ; but it purports to be the utterance of the Almighty, the 
Creator of heaven and earth. It does not suffer any limitation by being proclaimed to 
that portion of the human race which remained in professed communion with God, 
fiiince it forewarns the apostate nations of approaching visitation, and clothes its pre- 
cepts in the garb of denunciations against their most glaring sins. Many of its pre- 
cepts are of universal and eternal obligation, and none of them is narrower than the 
whole compass and duration of the human race on earth. To the heirs of immortality, 
when they have become the spirits of just men made perfect, when they neither marry 
nor are given in marriage, and have more things common than air and water, the 
principles contained in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments, if they require 
to be republished, will assume a new form adapted to their new condition. But the 
principles themselves, and even the form in which they are now presented, can never 
cease to be self-evident and self-binding, 

18-21, The effect of the spectacle which Mount Sinai presented upon the people is 
here described. "We may suppose that the awful silence which prevailed during the de- 
livery of the law was followed by a return of the thunderings and the lightnings, and 
the clang of the trumpet. All the people saw. The verb is here used in a pregnant 
sense. They saw the scene which was accompanied by the dread crashing of the 
elements and the thrilling notes of that unearthly cornet. They drew back and stood 
afar off. The solemnities of the divine presence beget the feeling of reverential awe, 
tinder the influence of which they retire to a respectful distance. They have no more 
any doubt of the divine commission of Moses ; and they entreat, by their elders, that 
Ccod would speak to them through Moses, and not directly and personally, lest they 
die. Human consciousness in its fallen state shrinks from immediate contact with 
God (vs, 20), Moses pronounces the encouraging word. Fear not, a word long remem- 
bered afterward (Hag, 2:5), To prove you. The test of their fidelity to the Lord 
their God was the law, which was now promulgated from Sinai with all the advantages 
of the immediate presence and audible voice of God, Faith in God is a dead form, 
if it do not bring forth the fruit of penitence and obedience. Hence he sets before 
them in the most conspicuous light the standard of a perfect morality that he may 
prove them, thai his fear may he before them that they sin not. The signal demonstrations 
of his presence and power will leave them without the excuse of any obscurity in the 
oracles they have received, and awaken a salutary sense of the infinite majesty and 
sanctity of the Supreme (vs. 21). And Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God 
fioas. We learn from the supplementary narrative of Deuteronomy that Moses com- 
inunicated the petition of the people to the Lord, who was pleased therewith, and gave 
them leave to retire to their tents (Beut. 5 : 28). 

22-26. The altar. The paragraph now before us is the close after the ten words 
and the preface to the legislation of the three following chapters. It is in the form 
of a message to Israel. It reminds them of the palpable fact that he had spoken to 
them from heaven. 23. Ye shall not make with me any idol. The construction here is 
remarkable. The first '' make" has no object expressed. It is designed to make em- 
phatic the accompanying "with me" by which the exclusive unity of the Godhead is 
intimated. The object is then supplied and the verb repeated. 

24, An altar. This prohibition to make any image of God is designed to introduce 
the permission or injunction to make an altar to him. The only outward thing in the 
salvation of the soul is the atonement. The necessity of propitiation is accordingly 



EXODUS XXI. 151 

symbolized in the altar. The mercy of God needs no type, and has its place in the 
proclamation on Sinai. The propitiation which makes way lor his mercy to the peni- 
tent sinner by satisfying his justice, has its type in the altar and the sacrifice thereon. 
This special provision for the salvation of sinners, though it vs^ould be out of place in 
the ten words, yet forms the main substance of all that is shadowed forth in the 
Avhole ceremonial law. It therefore comes in here as the necessary antecedent of all 
acceptable approaching to God and walking with him. The word altar connects Moses 
and the people of Israel with Noah and his rescued family (Gen. 8 : 20). Of earth. 
Earth was the scene of man's sin ; it is also to be the scene of the sacrifice for sin. 
The altar of earth is merely the definite spot of this earth set apart for sacrifice, and 
elevated to raise the offering toward God, who is in heaven. 2 hy burnt-offerings. The 
two gTeat classes of offerings are the expiatory and the eucharistic. The former is here 
represented by the ,-]^y or burnt-offering (Gen. 8 : 20), which implies on the part of 
the offerer the confession of guilt and of the need of an atonement. And thy peace- 
offering. This is that species of offering which was designed to express the thanks- 
giving of the offerer for peace with God or any of its attendant benefits. It was also 
expressive of devotedness to him. Thy sheep and thine oxen. The ordinary kinds of 
animals employed in sacrifice. Goats were included along with the sheep. In every 
place ichere I record r)\y name, where I cause my name to be remembered and invoked. 
This intimates some change of the place where the altar was to be erected. The 
patriarchs were wont to build an altar w^herever God appeared to^them. / will com^ 
unto thee and hless thee. The presence and the bovinty of God are here promised. 

25, 26. The altar may be of stones, if unhewn. It is thus entirely a work of God, 
and so in keeping with that propitiation which comes entirely from God. If thou lift 
up thy tool upon it, thou dost pollute it. This teaches, by a figure, that the sinner only 
defiles, and therefore cannot have any part in atoning. The altar of rude stone was 
common among the ancient nations. Motives of decency dictated that the altar was 
not to be approached by steps. 

The prescription here concerning the altar appears in the most general form. The 
details of legislation on this subject wiU appear in their proper place. 



XII. THE CIVIL LAW.— Ex. 21-24. 

CHAP. XXI. — LAWS OF SERVITUDE AKD PERSONAL SAFETY. 

XXI. 1. And these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. 2. When 
thou gettcst a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve ; and in the seventh he shall 
go out tree for nothing. 3. If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself ; if 
he be married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4. If his master give him a 
wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be 
her masters, and he shall go out by himself. 5. And if the servant shall plainly say, 
I love my master, my wife, and my children ; I will not go out free : 6. Then his 
master shall bring him unto God : and shall bring him to the door or to the door- 
post ; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl ; and he shall serve for 
ever. § 32. 

7. And when a man sells his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out 
as the men-servants do. 8. If she please not her master, who hath not betrothed 
her, then he shall let her be redeemed : to sell her to a strange people he shall have 
no power, when he hath deceived her. 9. And if he betroth her to his son, he shall 
deal v.ith her after the manner of daughters. 10. If he take him another wife, her 



152 THE CIVIL LAW. 

food, her raiment, and lier duty of marriage shall lie not diminish. 11. And if he do 
not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money. § 33. 

12. He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be sarely put to death. 13. And 
if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a 
place whither he shall flee. § 34. 

14. But if a man come presumptuously on his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou 
shalt take him from mine altar to put him to death. § 35. 

15. And he that smiteth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. § 36. 

13. And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or in whose hand he is found, shall 
surely be put to death. § 37. 

17. He that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. § 38. 

18. And if men quarrel, and one smite another with a stone or with his fist, and 
he die not, but is laid on his bed : 19. If he rise and walk abroad on his staff, then 
shall he that smote him be quit ; only he shall pay for his loss of time, and cause 
him to be thoroughly healed. § 39. 

20. And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his 
hand, he shall surely be punished. 21. But if he continue a day or two, he shall not 
be punished ; for he is his money. § 40, 

22. And if men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from 
her, and no mischief follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's hus- 
band will lay upon him, and he shall give as the judges determine. 23. And if mis- 
chief follow, then thou shalt give life for life ; 24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for 
hand, foot for foot ; 25. Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. § 41. 

26. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish, 
he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. 27. And if he knock out the tooth of his 
servant, or the tooth of his maid, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. If 34. 

28. And if an ox gore a man or a woman, and he die, the ox shall be surely stoned, 
and his flesh shall not be eaten ; but the owner of the ox shall be ^uit. 29. But if 
the ox were wont to gore in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he 
hath not kept him in, and he hath killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, 
and his owner also shall be put to death. 30. If a price be laid on him, then he shall 
give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him. 31. Whether he gore a 
son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him. 32. If 
the ox gore a servant or a maid, he shall give unto his master thirty shekels of silver, 
and the ox shall be stoned. § 42. 

33. And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man dig a pit and cover it not, and an ox 
or an ass fall therein, 34. The owner of the pit shall make it good : the money he shall 
return to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his. § 43. 

35. And if one man's ox gore another's, and it die, then they shall sell the live ox 
and divide the money of it ; and the dead ox also thej^ shall divide. 36. Or if it be 
known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and his owner did not keep him in, 
he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead shall be his. § 44. 

1. And these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. This is the heading of 
the four chapters which contain the civil polity of the Jewish theocracy. It will aid 
very much the intelligent perusal of these chapters if we mark the orderly arrange- 
ment of the topics of which they treat. The main features of this arrangement have 
been grasped by the Hebrew and Christian expositors. With some variance from the 
•usual division, and some endeavor after a more extensive elucidation, it is exhibited in 
the following scheme : 

I. Of Servitude xxi. 1-11 5th Commandment. 

II. Of Personal Safety xxi. 12-32 6th 

III. Of Property xxi. 33-xxi. 14 8th 

IV. Of Conjugal Fidelity xxii. 15-30 7th 

V. or Veracity xxiii. 1-9 9th 

VI. Of Set Times xxiii. 10-19 4th 

VII. Of Piety xxiii. 20-33 10th 



EXODUS XXI. 1, 2-11. 153 

The first of these sections refers to the duties of masters and servants, and is there- 
fore a natural expansion of the fifth commandment, which relates to parents and chil- 
di-en. The second treats of injuries destroying or endangering life, and hence comes 
under the sixth commandment. The third, relating to property, is an expansion of 
the eighth. The fourth is of a somewhat diversified character ; but its various pre. 
cepts bear upon the marriage vow, either between husband and wife, or between God 
and his jDeople. The injunctions concerning the stranger, the widow and orphan, and 
the poor, will naturally come under the latter head, if we remember that God avouches 
himself the guardian of all such. This section is thus analogous to the seventh com- 
mandment. The fifth section, on truthfulness and integrity in witness-bearing and 
judging, develops the ninth commandment. The sixth, on the observance of set 
times, finds its germ in the fourth word of the Decalogue. The seventh, on the 
acknowledging, worshipping, and serving of Jehovah alone, who searches the hearts 
and estimates the motives, is closely allied with the tenth commandment. 

It follows that the civil code is capable of being divided into seven sections, corre- 
sponding with the last seven precepts of the Decalogue, though exhibiting a different 
order. The order depends in each case on the material to be arranged and the end to 
be attained. There the matter was the moral relation between the Creator and a race 
of intelligent creatures, and the end a compend of universal law. Here the matter is 
the moral relation between the Sovereign and his subjects, and the end a code of civil 
jurisprudence. Here the subject of law is regarded, (1) as a master ; (2) as a neigh- 
bor ; (3) as an owner ; (4) as a consort ; (5) as a speaker ; (6) as a disposer of time ; 
and (7) as a child of God. The basis of this arrangement appears to be a gradation 
in the rights and responsibilities of man. It is manifest that the first section touches 
upon his lowest stage and the last upon his highest. The serf is one who is denuded 
of some part of his natural rights. The neighbor is in possession of that great origi- 
nal right of one creature against every other, namely, the inviolability of his person. 
The owner is invested with certain additional rights, acquired originally by the grant 
of the Creator, which is the only just title to property. The consort indicates a still 
higher degTee of responsibility, as the social compact which it involves brings into 
view reason and vrill, and fidelity and trust. The speaker is endowed with the organ 
of that sociality which is implied in the consort. The occupant of time has within 
his power the set time of meeting, private or public, which affords the possibility of 
social conference. The child of God rises to the highest privileges of social happiness 
in the great family of heaven and earth. A piece of composition that admits of such 
analysis must have an internal harmony and unity. 

Bertheau, and after him Baumgarten, maintain that as the " ten words" constitute 
the great Decalogue, so each of these sections forms a minor decalogue. There is, we 
conceive, some tenable ground for this subdivision. This brings out in a striking 
light the wonderful system lying in the structure of this seemingly unconnected collec- 
tion of injunctions. Seven groups of ten precepts each form the fundamental polity 
of the commonwealth of Israel. 

Hie judgments. These are decisions on points of law that may arise between man 
and man. They are therefore authoritative sentences or precepts for the regulation 
of civil society. 

I. LAWS OF SEEVITUDE. 

2-11. Here are ten verses containing the first decade of laws. They relate to serf- 



154 THE CIVIL LAW. 

dom, or the degraded state of man in wliich lie is stripped of some of his natural 
rights. The only natural rights are rights of person, such as liberty, life, and invio- 
labilitj'' of person. Offenders against the law are in all states deprived of some or 
most of these rights as the penalty of their offence. Even insolvency in some states 
has involved the loss of liberty and life. Captives in war have been often treated as 
offenders against the state, and consigned to bondage for life. It must be admitted 
that the withdrawal of freedom, or the imposition of labor for a term of years or for 
life, according to the degree of the offence, is a legitimate mode of state punishment. 
Hence serfdom and forced labor are warrantable in the case of crime. Even the ap- 
prenticeship of six 3'-ears for the acquisition of handicraft, or any other craft, such as 
domestic service, with proper restrictions, might be an improvement on our social 
system. And in ancient times, when servitude merely meant the performance of ser- 
vice with the understood condition of receiving food and raiment in return, many 
were glad to accept the terms without stipulating for a personal freedom which was 
to them of no practical value. The present decade of laws does not institute servi- 
tude, or commit itself to the approbation of every kind of bondage. It merely implies 
that some form of it, such as that of criminals under correction, or the dependant who 
voluntarily enters into it, is admissible. It recognizes the fact of its existence, with- 
out entering into the origin of this degraded condition. The decade of precepts is 
divided into two fives, each beginning with when (i^, vs. 2, 7), followed by four 
ifs (CX)- "T^® former five relate to the man-servant, the latter to the maid-servant. 

2. If thou get, acquire in any way, it may be by the voluntary offer of the individ- 
ual, who sometimes sold himself into servitude, such as is here contemplated, as a 
means of improving his temjJoral condition (Lev. 25 : 39 ; Deut. 15 : 12). A Hebrew 
servant. A servant is merely a laborer. The term does not of itself indicate the loss 
of freedom. We see no reason why the term Hebrew should not be taken here in its 
full extent of meaning as a descendant of Heber, at least as far .as this relationship 
still lived in the memories of men, and no disturbing event interfered with its appli- 
cation. We have no doubt that in process of time the term was gradually narrowed 
in application, until it came to be of the same extent, though not precisely of the 
same meaning, with Israelite or Jew. This first decision limits the period of servi- 
tude for a HebreAV to six years. As, however, all the Hebrew servants became free in 
the jubilee or fiftieth year (Lev. 25 : 10, 40), this period would be shortened if it com- 
menced within the six years immediately before the jubilee. It is plain from this 
statute that the involuntary servitude of a Hebrew could not be prolonged beyond six 
years. He then goes out free for nothing, or without any redemption. Nay, it is 
further enjoined in Deut. 15 : 12, 18, that he shall be furnished with a stock to enable 
him to enter upon a life of self-dependence. 

3. This verse contains two enactments, that are the complements of one whole. He 
that comes in by himself, with his body only, shall go out by himself. But if he come 
in married, his wife also shall go out with him at the end of the six years. This 
includes, no doubt, the family, if any, as they go with the mother. 

4. The fourth decides that in case his master give him a wife, she and her children 
shall remain with the master when the husband goes free. The wife belonged to the 
master. The children go with her who can tend them in their infant years, and sus- 
tain them out of her master's abundance. The difference in condition between the 
husband and his wife does not however necessarily dissolve the tie of wedlock be- 
tween them. The husband's " going out by himself" simply means that his wife does 



i 



EXODUS XXI. 5-32. 155 

not share his freedom with him. It does not of itself dissolve the marriage bond. 
They may continue to live as husband and wife, though it is possible that, in the 
loose manners of the times, the connection would be sometimes entirely broken off. 
The liberation of the husband may have made it inconvenient, diflacult, or sometimes 
impossible for them to live together. Such a case is provided for in the following 
enactment. 

5, 6. The fifth clause of this section presents a very agreeable aspect of servitude 
as existing in Israel. Shall plainly say, declare m all the earnestness and warmth of 
his heart. I love, I have learned to love my master. 1 will not go out free. Here is a 
case of voluntary servitude, and that not for a limited term of years. 6. Shall bring 
him unto God. Here is the first mention of the magistrate in the commonwealth of 
Israel. The supreme ruler in this singular community is God himself. His ministers, 
governors, and judges, therefore, speak with an authority paramount to all other. 
The Sept. aptly renders Trpds rd KpL-ypiov tov Geov, to the court of God. The freed 
man is to make his solemn declaration " I will not go free" before the authorities of 
the land, who will see to it that the act is of his own free will. To the door or to the 
post, whichever is the more suitable. The latter is always available, but the door- 
leaf may sometimes be wanting. His master shall do the act, as the chief party con- 
cerned. Bore his ear through with an awl. The awl through the ear is to be driven 
into the door or the post (Deut. 15 : 17), to signify the permanent attachment of the 
bondsman to the family of his master. And he shall serve for ever. Josephus and the 
Kabbins explain this to be a service till the next jubilee. This seems natural, as 
the phrase " for ever" is to be explained according to the nature of that to which it is 
applied. It could not in this case extend longer than the natural life of the servant. 

7-11. These five verses contain the law of the maid-servant. To sell his daughter to 
he a maid-servant was partly the resource of poverty, and partly the custonj of the 
country. It is plain that the maid-servant so bought was to have the place of a wife 
or a concubine, either to her purchaser or his son. In either case she is not to go out 
as the men-servants do. If she please her master, she has an acknowledged position of 
right in his house, which the marriage bond secures to her. 

8. If she please him not, and accordingly he do not betroth her or give her this right- 
ful place, he shall let her be redeemed by some of her kindred. He is not at liberty to sell 
her to a foreigner, when he has deceived her by refusing her the rights of marriage. This 
last clause is only a circumstance necessitating her release. The illegality of selling 
her to a foreigner rests on the fact of her Israelitish descent. 

9. If he betroth her to his son, she shall be treated as a daughter and not as a bonds- 
maid. She is to have all the privileges of a wife. 

10. ]f he take him another wife. This may refer either to the father or the son. The 
latter seems preferable. A second wife is not to exclude the former from the rights 
of food, raiment, and conjugal intercourse. Here again we find the law not institut- 
ing either polygamy or concubinage, but guarding the rights of the wife. 

11. If these three rights be withheld, the bondsmaid is to go free without any re- 
demption. A servitude in which the bondsmaid might become the honored wife of 
the master or of his son, or in case of neglect be released from her bondage, was thus 
secured for the poor daughter of Israel. 

n. LAWS or PERSONAL, SAFETY. 

12-32. From man divested of the natural right of freedom v/e advance to man in- 



156 THE CIVIL LAW. 

vested with the natural right of personal inviolability. This is the most fundamental 
right that belongs to intelligent creatures. As they come from the hand of the Cre- 
ator, one individual has no right to harm another, and each has a right to be left 
unharmed by every other. The Creator has the authority and the obligation to 
enforce this law upon the intelligent portion of his creatures ; and in a fallen state 
civil government is instituted on the ultimate basis of the patriarchal authority to 
check its infringement and guard personal safety. The special form of personal vio- 
lence prohibited in this set of judgments is injury to life or limb. It is therefore an 
expansion of the sixth commandment. The injury may come directly from our neigh- 
bor (vs. 12-27), or indirectly from his ox (vs. 28-32). 

12-14. Intentional killing, or murder, is placed first. The general rule is first laid 
down. The murderer shall surely be put to death. No satisfaction or pecuniary fine 
was to be taken for the life of a murderer. The rich and the poor were to stand here 
on a footing of perfect equality (Num. 35 : 31). Then the two cases of premeditated 
and unpremeditated manslaying are distinguished. If a man lie not in wait. If the 
intention be not harbored in his mind ; if a plot be not laid. But God deliver him into 
his hand. Here the particular providence of God is recognized in the most emphatic 
manner. This clause is merely the complement of that which precedes. If the 
slayer had no hand in bringing about the meeting, then it falls under the general head 
of the divine administration. It is only the meeting of the parties that is here re- 
ferred to this head. The broader question of the occurrence of all events, moral and 
physical, in subordination to divine providence is not here mooted. A place whither 
he shall flee. This contains a reference to the avenger of blood {^^^ q-; ^^^, Num. 
35 : 9-32), the nearest of kin, who was by primeval custom antecedent to all statute 
law entitled and bound to maintain the cause of the deceased in general, and in the 
case of death by violence to pursue the slayer, and, if he overtook him, to put 
him to death. The life of man is infinitely precious, both because he has 
been created in the image of God, and because he is responsible hereafter for what is 
done here. Hence even unintentional homicide is regarded as an awful deed, which 
is not to be passed over without check or censure. But though the avenger of blood 
is recognized as the minister of a prompt and natural justice, yet a way of escape is 
opened for the unintentional manslayer by the institution of six cities of refuge 
(Josh. 20 : 7, 8), so situated that the fugitive had not more than twenty-five or thirty 
English miles at most to flee. And as in most cases he would have a start of from 
one to twenty-four hours, he would generally be beyond the reach of his pursuer in 
the course of a day. The cities of refuge were all Levitical, and therefore in a pecul- 
iar sense belonging to God, who shields the unintentional manslayer. The elders or 
council' (niy) of the city of refuge shall receive him, and not surrender him to the 
avenger of blood (Josh. 20:4, 5). They shall hand him over to the council (niU) 
or elders of his own city (Num. 35 : 24, 25 ; Deut. 10 : 12), who shall decide whether 
ne be guilty of manslaughter or murder, and in the former case " restore him to the 
city of his refuge," and in the latter " deliver him into the hand of the avenger of 
blood, that he may die." 14. The murderer, as he acts from malice prepense, with 
presumptuous daring or unmanly guile, is here, by way of contrast with the milder 
sentence of the unpremeditating manslayer, emphatically condemned to death, from 
which not even the altar of God, much less the city of refuge, shall shelter him. This 
indicates both the fact that the altar was already regarded as a sacred and almost in- 
violable asylum for the defenceless, on account of its intimate connection with the 



EXODUS XXI. 15-21. 157 

Supreme Being, and tlie reason why Levitical cities, which belonged specially to God, 
were selected as cities of refuge. 

15. In this second enactment we pass from the murderous stroke to the blow of 
violence inflicted on a father or a mother. To strike a parent, even though the blow 
be not fatal, is to lift the hand of violence against the author of our being. It is akin 
to rebellion against God himself, the great Father of all. It is here regarded with such 
abhorrence as to be visited with the penalty of death. We learn from this and other 
passages (vs. 17 ; Deut. 21 : 18-21) that wilful and obstinate disrespect to parents was 
a crime that came under the cognizance of the civil judge. 

16. The third judgment condemns the manstealer to death. From the violent blow 
we proceed to the violent seizure. To steal a man and make merchandise of him is by 
its present connection regarded as aiming a blow at his life. It is, at all events, 
doing violence to his person, and therefore comes naturally under the sixth command- 
ment. It differs entirely from the treatment of one who has come into legitimate 
bondage, to which the previous section is devoted. This enactment leads to the 
remarkable conclusion that the stealing or selling of a free man without his fault, or 
against his will, was in the politj'- of Israel a crime of the deepest dye ; and accord- 
ingly that lawful servitude could only arise from the consent or the crime of the serf 
(see on vs. 2-11). This form of the law differs from the corresponding one in Deut. 
24 : 7 in the universality of its application. 

17. The preceding enactments refer to the hand of meditated violence ; the fourth 
to the tongue. Some copies of the Sept., regarding the parents as the point of con- 
nection, transpose the sixteenth and seventeenth verses. But the Hebrew arrange- 
ment rests on the more fundamental gradation from the hand to the tongue. Cursing 
father or mother is a crime cognate with the breach of the third commandment. The 
legislator evidently takes a comprehensive view of the principle involved in the sixth 
commandment, similar to that of our Lord in the sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 : 21- 
26). Hence " cursing," wishing evil to a parent, is treated as a most flagrant breach 
of this commandment. It violates the majestj'" of God, of whom the parent is the 
natural representative. 

18. 19. In this fifth " judgment" from malice prepense, we proceed to sudden out- 
bursts of violence arising from strife or passion. The present case refers to strife or 
angry debate between equals. From words they come to blows. A bruise is inflicted 
with a stone or the fist, which does not cause death, and yet confines the sufferer to 
his couch. Here both parties may be culpable ; and if the disabled man so far re- 
cover as to walk about on his staff, the striker is only to pay for the loss of time and 
the costs of the remedy. If, however, death ensue, either in the strife or before he 
leave his bed, the case is provided for by the first enactment of this section (vs. 
12-14). It will come under the head of manslaughter, unless malice prepense can be 
proved. 

20, 21. The sixth law refers to sudden violence on the part of a master. The chas- 
tisement of a servant, or even a child, with a rod was in perfect harmony with the 
allowed custom of the times. If, therefore, death under his hand should follow, it 
was to be presumed that the master did not intend to kill his servant. He shall surely 
he punished. If he had without intention slain a free man, he would have fled to the 
city of refuge, and remained there till the death of the high priest. In the case of a 
bondsman, then, we cannot suppose, with the Talmud, that the penalty was death by 
the sword. In the absence of an avenger of blood we presume the elders of his city 



158 THE CIVIL LAW. 

would examine whether tlie act was murder or manslaugliter, and deal with him ac- 
cording to the spirit of the first enactment (vs. 12-14). This would involve at least 
banishment to the nearest city of refuge for the usual time. But it is possible that 
death resulting from the excess of a legitimate mode of chastisement was punished by 
a fine of thirty shekels or upward, the average value of a slave, along with the cost of 
burial and the maintenance of the surviving family. This is favored by the decision 
that if the slave survive a few days it is to be presumed that he did not intend to 
compass his death, and the loss of the slave is to be counted as a fine for the abuse of 
power. 

22-25. This seventh decision passes to bodily injuries that fall short of the loss of 
life. In the case of strife or bodily conflict it is not unnatural for the softer sex to 
interfere by their entreaties or personal efforts to restore peace or protect the party in 
whom they are interested. A woman with child may thus be injured, and abortion 
take place without any further mischief resulting. The offender is in this case to be 
fined according to the damages laid on by the husband and regulated and enforced 
by the judges. The rendering of the Sept. iieTo. a^iu/uaroc, is free, but according to the 
sense. Some understand " her fruit departing from her" of piemature birth, and 
refer the " mischief" to the loss of either the mother's or the child's life. 23. If mis- 
chief follow, the decision is, " thou shalt give life for life." The lextalion is or law of 
retaliation is here laid down as the great principle by which the magistrate is to be 
guided in the administration of justice. A great deal of unreasonable obloquy has 
been heaped upon this law, as if it inculcated or im.plied the right of private revenge. 
A little reflection will show that it is the simple and only principle of all retributive 
justice. If two men were the only intelligent beings in existence, neither would have 
any right to hurt or apply any force to the other. On the other hand, the law of self- 
love would suggest the obligation to love the other as himself. If the one did injure 
the other, the latter would not thereby acquire any right to injure the former to the 
same or to any amount, or to quench or abate the feeling of benevolence already enter- 
tained toward him. But he would have the right of laying his cause before the ulti- 
mate fountain of all authority. And it is clear as day that the Creator is the supreme 
judge of all his creatures, and is bound by the simple law of equity to indemnify the 
sufferer and to impose an adequate penalty on the offender. This and this alone is 
the true import of the lex talionis. It is merely the law of equity expressed thus : as 
is the offence, such is to be the penalty. But its administrator is not the private indi- 
vidual, but the duly authorized magistrate. The error of many Jews in our Lord's 
time (Matt. 5 : 38-48), and of the carnal mind in all times, is to assume the right and 
indulge the spirit of private revenge, to the extinction of that spirit of love which 
ought to actuate the breast of one intelligent being toward another. But this does not 
touch the abstract principle of equity, or the authority and obligation of the civil 
magistrate to maintain it between man and man, 24. The arrangement of the mem- 
bers here is obvious. 25. The fire, the sword, or other sharp instrument, and the fist 
or some blunt instrument inflict these injuries. It is expressly stated (Num. 35 : 31, 32) 
that no satisfaction (-^^^ expiation, redemption) is to be taken for the penalties of 
murder and manslaughter. This implies that satisfaction or commutation of punish- 
ment was known and practised, and that it was admissible in other cases. 

26, 27. The eighth enactment jorovides for the case of a slave being mutilated by 
his master. The loss of an eye or a tooth by violence is to be compensated by the 
emancipation of the slave. This is a clear case of commutation. These verses in the 



EXODUS XXI. 28-36. 159 

Hebrew close an open parasha, or greater section, obviously because the legislator 
now passes from injuries done by men to injuries inflicted by cattle. But we conceive 
that injuries done to men and injuries to property form the fundamental basis of 
division. 

28-31. The ninth judgment refers to the goring of a free man by an ox. If death 
ensue, the ox is to be stoned, and his flesh is not to be eaten. The loss of the ox is 
to stand for the penalty of the owner, if he be otherwise blameless. The law is re- 
markably earnest in the protection of human life. 29. If the ox be dangerous, and the 
owner have been advised of it and have not kept him in, then the ox is to be stoned, 
and the owner also put to death. 30. But a commutation of punishment is expressly 
allowed in this case. 31. The child is to be equally protected with the full-grown 
man. 

32. The tenth and last of this group of laws applies to the case of a slave being 
gored by an ox. The redemption price is in this case fixed at thirty shekels of silver. 
Estimating the shekel at two hundred and twenty grains of silver, or about 2s. 3d., 
we find thirty shekels equal to £3 7s. Gd. If the relative value of silver was formerly 
greater than now, the estimated value of a slave must be proportionately increased. 
Some suppose it was, in the time of Moses, ten or twenty times its present value. A 
freeman above twenty and under sixty years of age was estimated at fifty shekels of 
silver, a woman at thirty. For other ages, the estimates varied according to a fixed 
rule (Lev. 27 : 1-8). A close section, or minor paragraph of the Hebrew text, here 
terminates, because the laws relative to the ox are not yet completed. The laws refer- 
ring to the defence of life, however, are at this point separated from those treating of 
the protection of property. This is, therefore, the second break in this civil code. 

It IS here to be noted that the distinction of intentional or unintentional, which is 
signalized in the first of these enactments, runs through the whole, and modifies the 
degree of guilt and the amount of the penalty. 

in. LAWS OF PEOPEETY. 

21 : 33-22 : 14 (15). From man invested with the bare rights of nature we now rise 
to man endowed with the acquired rights of property. Adam, as soon as he came 
from his Maker' s hand, had the right of personal inviolability^ As soon as his Maker 
diade him a formal gi-ant of all the trees of the garden that were suitable for him he 
had received the right of property, which assumed an endless variety of forms in the 
[progressive development of the race. 

33, 34. The first " judgment" refers to the case of a man opening a pit already 
made and covered, or digging a pit, and in either case leaving it uncovered. If an ox 
or an ass fall therein and be killed, the owner of the pit shall make it good. The 
money value he shall give to the owner of the animal, and himself retain the dead. 
This is a good instance of the lex talionis, varied by commutation, and exhibited as in 
principle the return of an equivalent. 

35, 36. In the second enactment it is provided that where an ox gores another to 
death the owners shall divide equally the value of the living and the dead animals. 
But if the live ox was addicted to goring, his owner shall pay ox for ox, and the dead 
shall be his. It is obvious that to jjay ox for ox is to give either an ox of equal value 
or the fair price of the ox killed. 

In the English version this chapter ends here. This division corresponds with a 



160 THE CIVIL LAW. 

minor section of the Masoretic text, and with the sense. But a more appropriate end- 
ing for the chapter would have been at vs. 34, where the legislator passes from the 
subject of personal safety to that of property. 

CHAP. XXII. LAWS OP PROPERTY AND CONJUGAL FIDELITY. 

18. F]^'2)0 enchantei-' or sorcerer (7 : 11). ijyr;') wizard^ one wise in black arts. 
n^*5^^ the ghost of the departed conjured up to give answers concerning the 
future. These two terms generally occur together, and refer to the necromancer. 

20, □"^n to 'prohibit from common use, to devote to God without possibility of 
redemption (Lev. 27 : 28, 29), and hence utterly to destroy and exterminate. 

29. HK^D the fulness of the corn harvest ; the first-fruits of this fulness offered 
to God in grateful acknowledgment. ]J101 ^^^ ^^^^i ^^e trickling juice of the 
fruit-tree harvest, of which the first-fruits were also to be presented to the 
Lord. 

XXII. 1. If a man steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five 
oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. 

2. If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten that he die, there shall be no 
blood for him. 3. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood for him ; he 
shall make full restitution ; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4. 
If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, be it ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall 
restore double. § 45. 

5. If a man graze on a field or vineyard, and put in his beast and graze on another's 
field, of the best of his field and of the best of his vineyard shall he restore. § 46. 

6. If a fire break out and catch on thorns, and a stack of corn, or the standing corn, 
or the field be consumed, he that kindleth the fire shall surely make restitution. § 47. 

7. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen 
out of the man's house ; if the thief be found, he shall restore double. 8. If the 
thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto God, to swear 
that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods. 

9. For all manner of trespass, for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, for anything 
lost, if one say that that is it, the cause of both parties shall come unto God ; and 
whom God shall condemn, he shall restore double to his neighbor. § 48. 

10. If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to 
keep, and it die or be hurt or taken away, no man seeing ; 11. An oath of the Lord 
shall be between them both, that he hath not put his hand to his neighbor's goods ; 
and the owner of it shall accept this ; and he shall not make it good. 12. And if it be 
stolen from him, he shall make it good to the owner thereof. 13. If it be torn in 
pieces, he shall bring it for witness : he shall not make good that Avhich was torn. IT 35. 

14. And if a man borrow aught of his neighbor, and it be hurt or die ; if the owner 
thereof be not with it, he shall surely make it good. 15. If the owner thereof be with 
it, he shall not make it good ; if it be hired, it went for its hire. § 49. 

16. And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed and lie with her, he shall 
surely endow her to be his wife. 17. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto 
him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. § 50. 

18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 

19. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. § 51. 

20. He that sacrificeth to any god, save unto the Lord only, shall be devoted to 
death. 

21. And thou shalt not vex a stranger or oppress him ; for ye were strangers in the 
land of Mizraim. 22. Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23. If thou 
afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry. 24. 
And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will slay you with the sword : and your wives 
shall be widows and your children fatherless, "if 36. 



EXODUS XXII. 1-8. 161 

^^. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be 
to him as a usurer : thou shalt not lay upon him usury. 

26. If thou at all take thy neighbor' s raiment to pledge, thou shalt restore it to him 
at the going down of the sun. 27. For that is his only covering ; that is his raiment 
for his skin : wherein shall he sleep ? and it will come to pass that he shall cry unto 
me and I will hear ; for I am merciful. § 52. 

28. Thou shalt not revile God nor curse a prince among thy people. 

29, Thou shalt not delay the first-fruits of thy corn and of thy wine : the first- 
born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. 30. So shalt thou do with thine ox, and 
thy sheep : seven days shall it be with its dam ; on the eighth day shalt thou give it 
me. 

31. And ye shall be holy men unto me ; neither shall je eat flesh that is torn of 
beasts in the fields ; ye shaU cast it to the dog. § 53. 



1. In this third law we proceed from injuries to property arising from inadvertence 
or negligence to those which are intentional. The case of the thief having got oft 
with his booty and killed or sold it is placed first. The fivefold and fourfold resti- 
tution is intended to cover the time, trouble, and cost which the theft may in this 
case have occasioned over and above the mere loss of the animal stolen. The theft 
of an ox involves in this respect a somewhat greater accompanying loss than that of a 
sheep, and this is allowed for in the fivefold restitution. 

This verse is attached to the preceding chapter in the original, seemingly because, 
like the previous verses, it treats of oxen. But as it treats of theft it is preferable, 
with the English version, to connect it with the following verses, which refer to the 
same subject. 

2-4. The fourth enactment treats of a thief caught in the act. This gives rise to 
three cases : (1.) He loses his life by night. In this case no blood is to be shed for 
him. By his nightly intrusion he endangers life directly or indirectly. His life is the 
forfeit of his intended crime. (2.) If he be smitten by day, the slayer shall suffer ; 
because there is no necessity for his death. He has been seen, and if he get off he 
can be overtaken by justice, and compelled to make restitution as already prescribed. 
Jf he have nothing, and therefore cannot make the required restitution, he is to he sold 
for his theft. This is a clear case of servitude being the judicial penalty of crime. 
(3.) If the thing stolen be found alive in his hand, and therefore without the trouble 
and cost of a tedious search, he shall restore double. 

5. The fifth decision regards the introduction by fraud or negligence of cattle into 
the field, especially the grain-field or vineyard, of a neighbor. It is presumed that 
the damage occurs by carelessness. At all events compensation to the full amount is 
to be made from the best of the trespasser's field or vineyard. 

6. The sixth refers to the breaking out of fire in a stack, or standing corn, or a 
field. It is customary in pastoral districts to kindle fires in the fields at all seasons ; 
and it is not unusual to set fire to the herbage for the purpose of promoting the 
fertility of the soil. If the wind and the lie of the field are not attentively considered, 
there is much danger of the fire spreading either to the standing or to the garnered 
grain. The careless kind] er of the fire is to make restitution for the damage done. 
This is analogous to the preceding case. The other cases also in this section go 
together to a certain extent in pairs. 

7. 8. The following determinations refer to the intrusting of property, either as a 
deposit or a loan. In the present case, money or articles of any kind are intrusted to 
another. If the thing intrusted be stolen, and the thief be caught, he shall restore 



162 THE CIVIL LAW. 

double. If not, the trustee is called upon to make oath before God that he has not 
put his hand to his neighbor' s goods. If he can do so, he is acquitted, 

9. But if he do not clear himself in this way, he comes under the present regula- 
tion. This applies to any kind of thing missing, or said to be missing, that is found 
with a man who denies it, while it is challenged by another as that very thing which 
he has lost. This is evidently a case of some complication and difl&culty. It is to 
come before the delegates of the Most High for adjudication, and he with whom the 
article missing is adjudged to be found, though denied, is to restore double, 

10-13, This regulation refers to animals committed to the keeping of another. The 
Eabbins make a distinction between paid and unpaid trustees ; the latter being in- 
trusted merely with money or articles that require only house-room, the former with 
cattle that require sustenance. It is obvious that in this case the caretaker must be 
remunerated at least for the cost of the animal's keep. If the animal die, or be 
maimed, or carried off secretly, and the guardian make oath that he is innocent of the 
loss, he shall not make it good. 13. If it be torn by a wild beast, and he bring the 
remains of it as a proof, he is to be acquitted. 

This verse terminates a major section of the Masoretic text, because the next refers 
not to trusteeship, but to lending. But the two following verses relate to property as 
well as the preceding ; while the subsequent verses relate to conjugal fidelity. The 
major division should in this view be placed after the fifteenth verse of the English 
version, or the fourteenth of the Hebrew text. 

14, 15. The tenth regulation of this law section refers to borrowing any article or 
animal from a neighbor. If it be injured or killed in the absence of the owner it is 
to be made good. But if the owner be present the thing borrowed is not to be made 
good ; and if hired, it is to go for its hire. 

rv. LAWS ON CONJUGAL FLDELITY, 

16-31. The regulations under this head are somewhat miscellaneous. To give a 
unity to them we must suppose the relation between God and his people to be sym- 
bolized by that between husband and wife ; and we must regard God as the avowed 
guardian and representative of the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. The cove- 
nant between God and his people (Gen, 9 : 9-17 ; 15 : 18 ; 17 : 1-24 ; Ex. 6 : 4, 5 ; 
19 : 5, 6), in which he engages to be their God, and takes them to be his people, war- 
rants the former symbol, which becomes frequent in the later scriptures. The stranger 
(Gen, 15 : 13 ; Ex, 20 : 10), the widow and the fatherless are special classes of the un- 
protected, whom God will hear if they be oppressed and cry unto him (Ex. 2 : 23, 
24 ; 3 : 9). 

16-17. The first precept affords protection to the unbetrothed female who is enticed 
or beguiled into unchastity. The enticer shall endow her io be his loife. The dowry 
was a portion given by the bridegroom for his bride to her parents (Gen. 29 : 18-20 ; 
34 : 12 ; 1 Sam. 18 : 25). The present passage favors the supposition that it was 
originally intended for the use of the bride. If the father refuse to give her, he shall 
pay money according io the dowry of virgins. To pay money is here to weigh silver which 
was not yet coined. The sum afterward fixed by law was fifty shekels of silver 
(Deut. 22 : 29). 

18. The second judgment. A wizard (^jyi^) is one who endeavors to accomplish 



EXODUS XXII. 19-25. 163 

a selfish end by the powers of darkness.* The masculine form of the term 
here employed (nCti^^D) denotes a sorcerer or enchanter, who employs the charm or 
miittered chant to bring a preternatural power to his aid (Ex. 5 : 11). The practiser 
of such arts, or the pretender to them, is by the very fact an apostate from God, a 
breaker of that solemn and gracious covenant which he has made with his people, 
and a traitor to the theocracy under which he lives. And his example at least would 
tempt the people to all these crimes. Such a one is, accordingly, not to be suffered 
to live. The penalty for witchcraft is stoning (Lev. 20 : 27), and this, no doubt, ex- 
tended to all its forms. The phrase nTHl N ? ^^ employed to denote the immediate 
and extreme necessity of exterminating this lurking form of enmity against God and 
man. The male and female are no doubt included in this judgment ; but the wizard 
seems to have been less common than the witch. 

19. The third rule condemns an unnatural crime of the kind that rendered Sodom 
infamous. Such a crime implies a being dead to all fear of God as much as to the 
very instincts of nature. 

20. The fourth law declares the man who sacrifices to any being but the true God to 
be accursed, and therefore given over to extermination. 

21-24. This fifth provision, as well as the two following, has reference to the un- 
protected classes — the stranger, the widow, the fatherless, and the poor. Thou shali 
not vex. This word signifies to harass by unAvorthy treatment, and is followed by an- 
other implying a greater degree of violence and injustice. A stranger. While the 
Lord is constrained by the ungodliness of the world to select for himself a people 
whom he may teach and bless, the stranger is to be peculiarly welcome among this 
people, and every facility afforded for their admission into all the rights and privileges 
of the theocracy. Whatever, therefore, may have been the conduct of Israel in differ- 
ent periods of her history, it is clear that the God of Israel and his ministers are to 
be completely exonerated from the charge of exclusiveness. The stranger is not to be 
discouraged or oppressed, but welcomed to sojourn and even to be incorporated in the 
commonwealth of Israel. For ye were strangers. An affecting appeal is here made to 
the bondage which seven weeks could not have effaced from their memories. A pro- 
vision was made, as we have already seen, for the stranger being admitted to the ordi- 
nance of the Passover (12 : 48), and allowed and required to observe the Sabbath 
(20 : 10). We shall meet with other tokens of consideration for the stranger as we 
proceed (Lev. 19 : 9 ; 23 : 22 ; Deut. 14 : 28, 29 ; 16 : 11-14 ; 24 : 17-22 ; 26 : 11-13). 
22. Ye shall not afflict, tread down or oppress. Ajiy widow or fatherless child. There is 
a touching nicety and correctness in the use of fatherless child for orphan in the Eng- 
lish version ; inasmuch as the decease of the father leaves both the widow and the 
child without their natural protector and sustainer, whereas the motherless child has 
still the father as its stay. 23, 24. God threatens to be the avenger of the widow and 
the fatherless by bringing the sword of war on the ruthless oppressors. 

25. The sixth ordinance requires that no usury or interest be taken upon money 
lent to the poor. The poor may be regarded as a fourth class of the dependent, who 
were exposed to base and cruel wrong in ancient times. The Lord declares himself 
the affectionate and resolute guardian of the poor, and inculcates upon his people a re- 
gard for the feelings of humanity, which had been almost extinguished in the heathen 

* The yonng sometimes aseume that this law implies the exercise of supernatiiial power by SHch 
persons. But this does not follow. The imposition on the fears or the credulity of men in the wizard's 
way is itself crime enough to merit the severest punishment.— J. H. 



164 THE CIVIL "LAW. 

world. The lending of money for a percentage to the wealthy for commercial opera- 
tions is not contemplated in this precept. 

26, 27. The seventh is the law of pledges, which was much restricted in considera- 
tion of the poor. The receiver was not at liberty to enter the house, but must wait at 
the door for the pledge (Deut. 24 : 10-13). He must also restore it at sunset. The 
garment referred to was a large shawl or plaid, now called haik, which was worn by 
day, and was the covering of the poor man, who threw himself on his couch with his 
clothes on, by night. The " merciful " God will hear the cry of the wretched poor. 

28. The eighth precept condemns the blasphemer. God is here contemplated as 
the author of that providence which dispenses the affairs of men. He is virtually a 
breaker of covenant with God who rails at his providential dealings. The selfish heart 
is prone to murmur against the Almighty, whether he be regarded as the withholder 
of prosperity or the restrainer of crime. But the afflicted poor and the disajjpointed 
oppressor are alike warned against the temptation to blaspheme the name of God. 
The prince is conjoined with God as the minister of his law and the magistrate of his 
people in a theocratic state. The responsibility to rule for God belongs to all sover- 
eigns, and the obligation to honor the ruler rests upon all subjects. 

29, 30. The ninth is the general law of first-fruits and firstlings. Thou shalt not 
delay, keep back or withhold. The fir si-fruits of thy corn and of thy wine, the fulness of 
the harvest and the trickling juice of the vintage were to come in the first-fruits to 
God, who gave them. This is more fully ordered afterward (Lev. 23 : 10-21 ; Deut. 
18 : 4). The first-horn of thy sons. This has been already arranged (13 : 2). On the 
eighth day. After seven days the offspring has a hold of life and individuality (Gen. 
17 : 12), It is then fit to be presented to God. 

The offering of the first of everything is the acknowledgment that all is due to God, 
and the token of a soul in covenant with him. This precept, therefore, comports 
with the general principle of faithfulness to covenant engagements. 

31. The tenth ordinance inculcates sanctity. Sanctity of the outward person is 
symbolic of that purity of heart that ought to characterize those who are in communion 
with God. That which was torn was imperfectly separated from the blood, which is 
the life, and was otherwise unclean. The dog was the emblem of the unbeliever. 

CHAP. XXIII. LAWS OP VERACITY, OF SET TIMES, AND OP PIETY. 

6. "ifi^K ^^^ needy^ who feels the pinchings of want ; r. desire, want. ^-] the de- 
pendent ; r. liang, swing. 

11. [210l£^ ^^ remit or release from cultivation. Hence ntSDI^ release^ cessation 
from agricultural labor. 

XXni. 1. Thou shalt not bear a false report : put not thy hand with the wicked 
to be a wrongful witness. 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to evil. Neither 
shalt thou answer in a cause to lean after a multitude to wrong. 3. Neither shalt 
thou countenance a poor man in his cause. § 54. 

4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it 
back to him again. § 55. 

5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee Ijdng under his burden, then thou 
shalt forbear to leave him, thou shalt surely leave with him. § 56. 

6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy needy in his cause. 7. Thou shalt be 
far from a false matter : and the innocent and righteous slay thou not ; for I will not 
justify the wicked. 8. And thou shalt not take a gift ; for the gift blindeth the open- 



EXODUS XXIII. 1-9. 165 

eyed, and perrerteth the T^ord of the righteous. 9. And thou shalt not oppress a 
Mizraim ' ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ °^ ^ stranger ; for ye were strangers in the land of 

10. And six years shalt thou sow thy land and gather in the fruit thereof 11 But 
the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie ; and the needy of thy people shall eat 
and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. So shalt thou do to thy vinevarj 
and thy olive. "^ ''^ 

12. Six days shalt thou do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest • that 
thme ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may 
be refreshed. 13. And in all that I have said to you be circumspect ; and mention 
not the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of thy mouth. 

14 Three times shalt thou keep a feast unto me in the year. 15. Thou shalt keep 
the feast of unleavened bread : seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I com- 
manded thee m the set time of the month Abib ; for in it thou camest out from 
Mizraim : and none shall appear before me empty : 16. And the feast of harvest, the 
first-fruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field : and the feast of in-gathering 
in the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field 17 Three 
times m the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah 
v,\^i\P^^.^¥^*^?*°^®^^^® blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither 
shall the fat of my feast rei;iain until the morning. 19. The first of the first-fruits of 
thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of the Lokd thy God. Thou shalt not 
seethe a kid m its mother's milk. §36. 

• ?0- ^^^^old I send an angel before thee : to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee 
into the place which I have prepared. 21. Beware of him, and hear his voice • pro- 
voke him not : for he will not pardon your transgressions ; for my name is in him 
ZZ. t or If thou indeed hear his voice, and do all that I speak, then will I be an 
enemy unto thme enemies and an adversary to thine adversaries. 23 For mine 
angel shall go before thee, and bring thee to the Amorite and the Ilittite, and the 
Perizzite and the Kenaanite, the Hivite and the Jebusite ; and I will cut them off 
i\ i r 1 ^°* ^°^ ^°^^ *° *^®^^ gods nor serve them, nor do after their works • 
but thou Shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their pillars 25 And 
ye shaU serve the Loed your God : and he shall bless thy bread and thy water"- and 
take away sickness from the midst of thee. § 57. 26. None shall miscarry ir be 
barren m thy land : the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27. I will send my fear be- 
fore thee and confound all the people to whom thou comest ; and make all thine 
enemies turn their back unto thee. 28. And I will send the hornet before thee ; and 
It shall cb-ive out the Hivite, the Kenaanite, and the Hittite from before thee 29 I 
will not di'ive him out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate, 
and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30. By little and little I will drive 
him out from before thee, until thou be fruitful and inherit the land. 31 And I will 
set thy border from the Bed Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wil- 
derness unto the river : for I will deliver into your hand the inhabitants of the land ; 
and thou sha t drive them out before thee. 32. Thou shalt make no covenant with 
them nor with their gods. 33. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee 
sm against me : for thou wilt serve their gods ; for it will be a snare to thee «[ 38 



V. LAWS OF VEEACITY. 



1-9. This group Of precepts relates chiefly to sincerity in speech and integrity in 
judgment. By a natural expansion, however, it includes two precepts which refer to 
honesty and kindliness of purpose, and are therefore quite in harmony with truthful^ 
ness of language. 

1. The first precept refers to witness-bearing, with an intent either to deceive or to 
wrong. To hear a false report is either to raise or to carry it, but especially the latter 
A wrongful witness is one who testifies falsely so as tq inflict a wrong upon another. 

2. This verse contains two precepts, which are connected by the common reference 
to a multitude. The former is general, prohibiting the following of a multitude in 



166 THE CIVIL LAW. 

anything that is evil. The latter is special, prohibiting a similar compliance in bear- 
ing witness so as to wrong the righteous in his cause. 

3. To countenance or honor the poor man in his cause is to connive at his crim- 
inality from a mistaken compassion for his poverty. This rule is extended to the rich 
as well as the poor in Lev. 19 : 15. 

4. The fifth injunction transcends the obligation to speak the truth. He that 
meets his enemy's beast going astray is not only not to be silent on the subject, but 
not to refrain from interfering. He is to beat down the exasperated feeling of his 
heart, and bring back the straying auimal to his enemy, as if he were a friendly 
brother. This would be a happy means of softening many asperities. 

5. The sixth precept comes in here on the principle of association. Then thou shall 
forbear to leave him. This seems to be the simplest mode of rendering this somewhat 
obscure phrase. It enables us to give the usual meaning of -i]y {leave) consistently 
throughout. Thou shall surely leave with him. Leave the place with the owner and his 
ass relieved. These two precepts breathe the spirit of forgiveness and brotherly 
kindness. In this, as in every other respect, the Old Testament is in harmony with 
the New (Matt. 5 : 44). 

6. In the seventh precept of this series we again return to truthfulness of speech. 
The needy and dependent are exposed to oppression and injustice in a selfish world. 
But the man of God is not to wrest the judgment of the needy. Thy needy, thy 
brother who is needj'. This touches the feelings of a common humanity. 

7. The eighth inculcates the avoidance of all connection with a false matter, partic- 
ularly in lawsuits, where it may involve the judicial slaying of the innocent and the 
righteous. I will not justify, I will most assuredly condemn, the wicked. 

8. The ninth refers to bribery. The acceptance of a gift is forbidden on the ground 
that it blinds the eyes and perverts the tongue. 

9. In regard to judicial truth, the stranger is entitled to the same equitable treat- 
ment as the home-born. On this subject the appeal is made to their own past experi- 
ence. It is evident that this series of precepts finely enforces truth of purpose and 
honesty of heart, and forms a noble commentary on the ninth commandment. 

VI, LAWS EEGAKDING SET TIMES. 

10-19. The set times of the Lord are here treated in their bearing on civil affairs. 
This series of ordinances forms a brief but comprehensive development of the com- 
mandment that introduces the element of sacredness into the disposal of our time. 

10. 11. The first precept regards the sabbatical year. " Six years" of sowing and 
reaping are to be followed by a seventh year, in which men are to rest from sowing, 
and leave off gathering in that which grows of itself. The spontaneous growth is to 
be for the needy and for the beast of the field. The same rule is to apply to the vine- 
yard and the oliveyard. This is one of the most distinctive institutions of a theocratic 
state. No merely human legislator could venture to enact a law suspending the culti- 
vation of the soil for a year, because he has not the power to secure the subject from 
the famine that might there by ensue. It is otherwise, however, with the Author of all 
things, who can command an extraordinary fertility in the previous year, that will 
sustain his people for two years (Lev. 25 : 20-22). The scriptural use of the number 
seven in sacred things is to be deduced not from the division of the natural month 
into four periods of seven days, which is not exact in itself, nor from the seven 



EXODUS XXIII. 12, 13. 167 

planets, from wliicli some nations have derived distinctive names for the days of the 
week, but from the six days of creative work and the seventh day of rest with which 
the present order of things was introduced. This historical fact the Scripture records, 
and makes the base of a weekly commemoration. The other fancies of a later age it 
does not recognize, and must not be forced to accept. In that great event God came 
into immediate and manifest contact with the heavens and the earth, reconstituted 
the system of physical things, clothed the dry land with vegetation, and peopled it 
with animated nature. On this occasion, for the first time, a rational inhabitant was 
placed upon the earth. The cycle of seven days during which this creative process 
was completed and celebrated imparted an association of sacredness to the number 
seven. 

The sabbatical year, which is here mentioned for the first time, is also called the 
year of release. In this year, (1.) the land was to be left uncultivated, and its spon- 
taneous growth made common to the servile, the poor, the stranger, and the wild ani- 
mals. Several remarkable effects would follow from the honest carrying out of this 
arrangement. The spirit of avarice would be kept in constant and effectual check. 
The opposite feelings of compassion, charity, benevolence, and brotherly kindness 
would be brought into play. The original equality of all men in point of birth and 
right would rise to the surface of human observation. The habits of prudence and 
economy would be cherished, as the produce of six years must be so husbanded as 
to serve for seven years. A profound and practical sense of dependence upon the 
Lord of providence would be awakened in the breast (Lev. 25 : 2-8 ; Joseph. Antiq. 
iii. 12, 3). This institution thus harmonizes with the Sabbath in breaking down the 
narrow selfishness of the fallen nature, and fostering the disinterested kindliness 
that springs up in the new heart. (2.) A debt owed by a poor man who had nothing 
to pay was to be remitted, or at all events not exacted. This is a natural conse- 
quence of the intermission of cultivation during the seventh year. He that receives 
no fruits from the soil is not in a condition to pay debt. This carries the liberality 
of the affluent brother to its ultimate extent. The poor man is not to be allowed to 
perish, though he have nothing to pay (Deut. 15 : 1, 2). (3.) On this year, during 
the feast of tabernacles, the law was to be read aloud in the audience of all the 
people. On this Sabbath-year it was appropriate that the great principles of morality 
should be solemnly presented to the minds of the people. The septennial Sabbath 
thus bore a complete analogy to the hebdomadal, which was to be celebrated by a 
holy leisure for the offices of public worship. 

12, 13. The seventh-day Sabbath is here introduced in its relation to civic rights. 
The cattle, the servile, and the stranger are to be partakers in this rest. 13. And 
in all that I have said to you he circumspect. This admonition appears to refer to the pre- 
cept concerning the Sabbath. And mention not the name of other gods. The import of 
this injunction is to be ascertained from the nature of the enactment to which it 
refers. The fourth commandment belongs to that table which contains our duty to 
God. It prescribes, moreover, the day on which religious exercises are to be statedly 
observed. It is the only precept in the Decalogue which involves the ordinances of a 
perpetual worship, and keeps alive in the breasts of the people the remembrance of 
God, of his will, and of his grace. Hence it is natural that the people should be 
guarded against devoting themselves or any of their thoughts on this day to any false 
god. This is, therefore, not a separate precept, but an incidental warning in regard 
to the special solemnities of the Sabbath. 



1G8 THE CIVIL LAW. 

Some have regarded this verse as a concluding formula of admonition, referring to 
the preceding part of the chapter and marking it o£E from that which follows. But 
it is remarkable that the Masoretes have no division whatever at this point of the 
text. This plainly indicates that they regarded this verse merely as the completion 
of the precept concerning the Sabbath, and not an independent rule or closing ex- 
hortation. 

14-17. The next five precepts refer to the annual festivals. The first determines 
that there shall be three such festivals in the year. 15. The second enjoins the 
feast of unleavened bread. As I commanded thee. The passover or feast of unleav- 
ened bread has been already instituted (12). And none shall appear before me empty. 
This applies to all the three festivals, and refers to the obligation of all, without 
exception, to provide the things requisite for the celebration of each. Free-will 
offerings might be presented on such occasions ; but they are not implied in these 
words. 16. The third relates to the second festival (Lev. 23 : 15-22) ; Num. 
28 : 26-31 ; Deut. 16 : 9-12. It was called the feast of harvest, because the grain 
harvest was drawing to a close at the time of its celebration ; the day of first fruits, be- 
cause then the two loaves made of the new corn were presented (Num. 28 : 26) ; and 
the feast of weeks, or Pentecost, because it was kept on the morrow after the seventh 
Sabbath from the Sabbath of the feast of unleavened bread (Deut. 16 : 10). The 
fourth refers to the third festival (Lev. 23 : 33-43 ; Num. 29 : 12-39 ; Deut. 
16 : 13-15). This is called the feast of in-gathering, because the fruit harvest was then 
completed and the whole produce of the ground gathered in ; and the feast of taber- 
nacles, because the tabernacling of the people in the wilderness was then commem- 
orated. These three festivals correspond in the main with the three elements of 
salvation : the passover with the atonement ; the pentecost with the new birth ; and 
the feast of in-gathering with pardon and its accompanying plenitude of blessings. 
The pentecost is regarded as the completion of the passover ; and so sanctification 
invariably accompanies justification. Mercy flows forth in pardon, as the end of 
which the atonement and the new birth are the means. So the feast of in-gathering 
in the beginning of the ancient year is mediate by the feasts of the passover and of 
weeks in the beginning of the new year. 17. The fifth precept affirms the obligation 
of all males to appear at each of the three festivals. 

18. The two directions in this verse are united into the eighth regulation by their 
common reference to the passover. The blood of my sacrifice, of the passover lamb, 
which was peculiarly God's sacrifice and pre-eminently the type of the Messiah (Jno. 
1 : 29). Leavened bread. Leaven is that which dissolves and corrupts. It is there- 
fore a fit emblem of sin, which is to be excluded from the service or the offerings of 
God (12 : 10). The fat of my feast. The paschal lamb was to be wholly consumed in 
the evening, and no part left till the morning. This is the rule, whether we under- 
stand " the fat of my feast "to be the best of sacrifices, that is, the passover, or, 
what is more likely, the fat of the paschal lamb, which was to be offered to the Lord, 
while the flesh was eaten by the worshippers. 

19. This verse contains two regulations. That concerning the first-fruits refers to 
the feast of weeks, when the two wave-loaves, which may be called the first of the 
first-fruits of the ground, were offered unto the Lord (Lev. 23:17). And next the 
Eastern custom of occasionally seething in milk here comes into view, and has sur- 
vived to this day. The prohibition to seethe a kid in the mother's milk has reference 
to all the festivals or set times of the Lord. It appears from the regulations concern- 



EXODUS xxiii. 20, 21. 169 

ing these (Num. 28 : 29) that one kid of the goats for a sin-offering was to be offered 
in the beginnings of the months, on each of the seven days of the feast of unleavened 
bread, on the day of the first-fruits, on the first and the tenth days of the seventh 
month, and on each of the eight days of the feast of tabernacles. The flesh of this 
kid was to be dressed and eaten by the priests in the holy place (Lev. 6 : 26). Hence 
the general precept comes in here that a kid is not to be seethed in its mother's 
milk. The dam is the natural mother and nurse of the kid, and the milk is the nat- 
ural aliment by which life is sustained. To employ the milk of the very dam to aid 
in cooking the kid for food is a rude violation of the order of nature, and to prohibit 
such a custom is to cultivate those feelings of consideration and tenderness in the 
daily routine of our thoughts which sin tends to quench, and moral training is in- 
tended. to rekindle. This minute regulation on behalf of right feeling involves the 
great principle that the course of human feeling and conduct ought, in its finest as 
well as its broadest lines, to be brought into harmony with the law of universal be- 
nevolence. 

VII. THE LAWS OP PIETY. 

20-33. It is manifest that the law of moral thought cannot be spread out into the 
same distinguishable branches as that of external action. Accordingly, this passage, 
which is marked off in the Masorah, both at the beginning and the end, as a major 
section, is not very obviously divisible into ten rules or judgments. It bears also a 
temporary aspect, inasmuch as it treats of matters that come to a termination when 
the people are settled in the land of promise. And it consists very largely of 
promises, which scarcely enter into the other sections of this code of civil jurispru- 
dence. Nevertheless, it evidently forms an integral part of the common law of Israel. 
It is appropriate and essential that promises should have a direct or indirect part in 
" the book of the covenant." Accordingly, in this conclusion of the civil code, 
promises are intermingled with injunctions ; and though some of them are terminable, 
yet they prefigure blessings of a higher order, and of perpetual duration. And a 
decade of commands seems to be here intermingled with a decade of promises, 

20-23. This portion contains three commands and three promises. 20. Behold. 
This word is frequently used to introduce an important intimation concerning the 
future. I send an angel before thee. The angel here promised is very closely allied 
with the speaker and sender. He has power to " pardon transgressions." The 
reason assigned for the high prerogative is, "for my name is in his inmost" ; my 
nature is in his essence. This intimates a substantial identity. We conclude that 
the angel here is God manifest in angelic offices to his people. They are to " beware 
of him, to hear his voice, and provoke him not." To "hear his voice" and to 
" do all that I speak" appear to be of the same import. All these phrases corroborate 
the conclusion that the angel is God. He is sent before the people for the important 
purposes of keeping them in the way, and bringing them to the place prepared for 
them. This is the great promise of the passage. It is in continuance, and at the 
same time in advance, of former assurances (3:8; 13 : 21, 22). It intimates, at the 
same time, a certain distance in point of moral condition between God and his people, 
which is bridged over by means of his angel (Gen. 16 : 7). 

21. This verse contains three injunctions regarding this angel. Beware of him. Give 
reverent heed to him, as the Supreme God is in him. Hear his voice. Understand 
and obey him, as the Lord revealing himself by his word. Provoke him not Let not 



170 THE CIVIL LAAV. 

your will come into conflict with his will, as he is the Great Spirit, who is to be 
worshipped in spirit and in truth. 

22. The central command is recapitulated and elucidated in the condition, " If 
thou indeed hear his voice, and do all that I speak." This verse presents a second 
promise, consequent upon the former. Then will 1 he an enemy vnto thine enemies. This 
phrase refers to the inward feeling, as the following one does to the outward display 
of hostility. It is here intimated, in general terms, that the Lord and his j)eople, 
while they were one in feeling and interest, have common enemies in this world. 

23. A fuller specification of the end of their jotirney is here followed by a third 
promise. The Amorite, and the Hittiie, and the Kenaanite, the Tlivite and the Jebusite, are 
among the twelve tribes to which Kenaan gave rise, eleven being named after his de- 
scendants and one after himself (see Gen. 15 : 19). The Perizzite makes his appear- 
ance along with the Kenaanite in the history of Abraham (Gen. 13 : 7). These six 
tribes were the prominent inhabitants of Kenaan in the time of Moses (3 : 8). The 
Amorite is now placed first, as the most prominent in transgression, and the first with 
whom the Israelites are to come into contact. And I will cid them off. This promise 
is in accordance with a purpose long since announced. Four hundred years before, 
the Lord had informed Abraham that " the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full" 
(Gen. 15 : 16). This is no arbitrary procedure on the part of the Most High Possessor 
of heaven and earth. It is an act of retributive justice. What was the original offence 
of the Kenaanite, whether it was an early apostasy from the living God, the ruthless 
invasion of a preoccupied country, and the barbarous oppression of the Shemite in- 
habitants, among whom the knowledge of the true God still lingered, we are not in- 
formed. But we perceive that the original crime had been aggravated by a course of 
transgression which made the nation ripe for a penal extirpation. 

24-26. These three verses contain four injunctions and four promises. 24. TJiou 
shall not how down to their gods nor serve them. These nations are manifestly idolaters, 
apostates from the living and true God, and therefore ranking among those that hate 
him (20 : 5). Their idols will come under the notice of Israel when they enter the 
land. The idea of local or national gods had become familiar to them in Egypt. And 
a superstitious dread of entering into possession without propitiating the supposed 
gods of the land might still lurk in their breasts. Hence the reasonableness of this 
precept, reiterating the prohibition of the second commandment. Nor do after their 
works. These are the works of the people of the land ; and chief among these, the 
making and worshipping of idols, and the licentious vices which accompany the ser- 
vice of their national deities. It is only necessary to reflect, that the principal ob- 
jects of their worship were a male deity, Baal, the sun-god, coinciding in attributes 
with the Apollo and Jupiter of the Greeks and Komans ; and a female, Beltis, Ashto- 
reth, the moon-goddess, resembling in her character and worship the Aphrodite or 
Venus of these nations, in order to understand the revolting nature of the bloody and 
lascivious rites and customs by which the very name of religion was profaned. Human 
sacrifice and prostitution in the national worship were sufficient to bury all moral 
feeling in the grave of carnality. Thou shall utterly overthrow them. The people and 
their gods seem to be here associated as one great system of evil, to be overwhelmed 
with destruction. " Their pillars" are the monumental stones, connected in a rude, 
uncivilized age with the worship of these fallen gods. 

25. And ye shall serve the Lord your God. This is the fourth of this group of injunc- 
tions, forming the counterpart of the three that went before. It is followed by the 



EXODUS XXIII. 25-33. 171 

four promises of tliis passage. He shall bless thy bread and thy water. Bread and water, 
the main elements of subsistence, stand for all the rest. The divine blessing gives 
these all their value to a rational creature. And take aicay sickness from ike midst of 
thee. Next to the means of life, is health to enjoy them. Without the latter the 
former are of no avail. 26. Xone shall miscarry or be barren in thy land. This secures 
the perpetuation of the race. The number of thy days will I fulfil. Length of life in 
peace and prosperity is here insured to the faithful nation. The sum of all earthly 
prosperity here described, is at the same time an earnest and type of still greater 
blessings in an advanced stage of existence. God begins with the present, and will 
never fail his confiding people through an endless future. 

27-33. This passage adds the remaining triad of promises and commands. I ivill 
send my fear before thee. The fame of the mighty deeds by which Egypt was humbled 
in the dust, and Israel delivered and kept in safety through the wilderness, would 
awaken a sense of alarm in the nations who were living in rebellion against the living 
God. Discouraged and troubled in mind, they would make only a feeble effort at 
resistance, and ultimately turn their backs to the victorious invader. 

28-30. And Iioill send the hornet before thee. The hornet is here used collectively for 
a plague of hornets infesting the land. This plague is again mentioned (Deut. 7 : 20), 
and a passing allusion made to its fulfilment (Josh. 24 : 12). Some suppose this to be 
a figurative description of certain otherwise unknown calamities that befell these 
nations in the w^ar of extermination. But Bochart (Hieroz. iii. p. 409) has shown that 
frogs, mice, and other small animals have been the means of annoying and banishing 
whole tribes from their settlements. And the rapid conquest of tw^o such powerful 
kingdoms as those of Sihon and Og, and the immediate occupation of their cities 
(Num. 21 : 21-35) by the invaders, are explained by the fact that the}'' had been en- 
feebled and diminished by a plague such as that here described. There is no reason 
whatever, therefore, to retire from the ground of plain matter of fact, historically re- 
corded, into the region of a dark, figurative unknown, which cannot be filled up even 
by the imagination. The Hivite, the Kenaanite, and the Hittite are to be the chief 
sufferers from the plague of hornets. But the Amorites also were exhausted by their 
inroads (Josh. 24 : 12). 29, 30. A gradual removal of the former inhabitants is here 
intimated, on the ground that the land without occupants would be infested by wild 
beasts, as was the case at the time of the exile of the ten tribes (2 Kings 17 : 25). If 
the former nations had been instantly exterminated, a people consisting of one million 
six hundred thousand could not have at once occupied the whole land. Besides, the 
territory here promised was much more extensive than the land of Kenaan. 

31. The boundaries of the promised land are here indicated. The " wilderness" is 
that of Etham and Shur. The " river" is the Phrat. The extent of territory within 
these bounds cannot be less than four hundred and ninety miles by one hundred, and 
therefore four or five times the area of Palestine proper. It is to be remembered that 
these promises are here made conditional on obedience ; and therefore their fulfilment 
was in some degree modified by the subsequent conduct of the people. And thou shall 
'Irive them out before thee. This is the injunction laid on Israel as the executioner of the 
udgment of God. 

32. The second injunction is to make no covenant with the people or their idols. 

33. The idolatrous people are to be banished from the land, that they may not be a 
temptation to the children of Israel, The order of thought is, their dwelling in the 



172 THE CLOSING OF THE COVENAi^T. 

land will be a snare to thee, and tliou wilt serve their gods, when thou hast tolerated 
themselves and their idolatrous ways. 

This completes the book of the covenant, in four chapters, containing the ten com- 
mandments for the moral government of man, and seventy judgments for the regula- 
tion of civil life. 

CHAP. XXIV. — THE LAW ACCEPTED. 

XXIV. 1. And to Moses he said, Come up unto the Loed, thou and Aaron, Nadab 
and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ; and worship ye afar off. 2. And 
Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near ; and the people 
shall not come up with him. 3. And Moses went and told the people all the words of 
the Lord -and all the judgments : and all the people answered with one voice, and 
said. All the words which the Lord hath spoken will we do. 4. And Moses wrote all 
the words of the Lord, and rose up earl}^ in the morning, and built an altar under 
the mount, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5. And he sent young 
men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offer- 
ings of oxen to the Lord. 6. And Moses took half of the blood and put in basins ; 
and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7. And he took the book of the 
covenant, and read in the ears of the people ; and they said. All that the Lord hath 
spoken will we do and obey. 8. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled on all 
the people ; and said. Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made 
with you according to all these words. 

9. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of 
Israel. 10. And they saw the God of Israel : and under his feet as a paved work of 
sapphire and as the substance of heaven for purity. 11. And upon the nobles of the 
sons of Israel he laid not his hand : and they beheld God, and ate and drank. § 58. 

12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there : 
and I will give thee tables of stone and the law and the commandment which I have 
written to teach them. 13. And Moses rose up and Joshua his minister ; and Moses 
went up to the mount of God. 14. And to the elders he said, Sit ye here for us, until 
we come back unto you : and behold Aaron and Hur are with you ; whosoever hath 
any matter, let him draw near unto them. 15. And Moses went up into the mount, 
and the cloud covered the mount. 16. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount 
Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days ; and he called unto Moses the seventh day 
out of the midst of the cloud. 17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like 
devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the sons of Israel. 18. And 
Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount ; and Moses was 
in the mount forty days and forty nights. 19. IT H H 39. 

The formal ratification of the covenant between God and his people is the ajjpro- 
priate close of the legislative section which forms the kernel of the Book of Exodus. 
The admission of Moses and the other representatives of the people into the presence 
of God is the natural result of the sealing of the covenant. These are, accordingly, 
the two to^Dics of this concluding chapter. 

1-8. The closing of the covenant. And to Moses he said. The words " and to 
Moses," being placed first in the original, are emphatic. This places the following 
words addressed to Moses in contrast with the communication begun in 20 : 22, and 
addressed to the people. Come up. This indicates an approach to the mountain in 
general. In the present case it includes an ascent of some part of the mountain side. 
Moses and Aaron ascend as the prophet and priest of God ; Nadab and Abihu, as the 
elder sons of Aaron, henceforth to be associated with him in the priesthood ; the 
seventy elders as the representative heads of the people. The number seventy, which 
we might expect to be a round number for seventy-two, or six out of every tribe, has 
most probably a historical reference to the number of souls that constituted the whole 
family of Jacob when he came down into Egypt (see on Gen. 46 : 27). And loorship ye 



EXODUS XXIV. 3-11. 173 

afar off. This shows that they were not to ascend to the summit of the mountain. 
Moses shall come near ; and only the representatives prescribed shall come at all. 

3. And Moses went. The call to come up to the mount is subsequent both in its 
utterance and in the time of its execution to the directions given in 20 : 22, 26, which 
imply all that Moses now proceeds to do. And told the people. The acceptance of the' 
covenant is to be an intelligent service. All the words of the Lord. This may refer to 
all the words contained in the preceding four chapters, or in the twentieth chapter 
only. The ten '' words" pre-eminently so called, Moses may have now rehearsed to 
the people. And all the judgments, the seven decades of regulations contained in the 
previous three chapters. Will we do. The unanimous assent of the people is the vir- 
tual acceptance of the covenant. 

4-8. This passage contains the solemn ratification of the covenant. Ayid Moses 
icrote. All the words of the Lord now written constitute the Book of the Covenant 
afterward mentioned. Built an altar. This is the first altar erected in compliance 
with the precept in 20 : 24. The altar indicates the presence of God in covenant with 
his people. The twelve pillars, placed probably in a circle round the altar, indicate 
the presence of the twelve tribes in this great solemnization of the covenant. They do 
not seem to have had a monumental character, as we hear no more of them. 

5. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel. These youths are not to be further 
defined as first-born or Levites, but as fit persons selected by Moses himself, who is 
the principal agent in mediating the covenant out of a people who are all a " king- 
dom of priests and a holy nation" (19 : 6). They are merely the ministers of Moses, 
and not the representatives of the people, who are the seventy elders, and occupy a 
different position in this great transaction. Burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, types 
of atonement and thanksgiving (20 : 24). 

6. And Moses took half of the blood. The blood is that which makes atonement, and 
thereby lays the foundation for a covenant of peace. Hence it ratifies the covenant. 
For this purpose it is divided into two equal parts. The one is reserved in basins ; 
the other is sprinkled on the altar. There it makes a propitiation, and in the present 
instance signifies concurrence in the covenant. 

7. The hook of the covenant, which he had just written, contains the " words" and 
" judgments" of the previous four chapters. Ayid read. Before, he told or reported ; 
now, he solemnly recites. The former assent of the people authorized the step of 
solemnizing the covenant. This unanimous consent, after a second deliberate hear- 
ing, is the formal acceptance of the covenant. 

8. The hlood. This is the part reserved in basins. The blood has here two func- 
tions to fulfil —first to make reconciliation, and then by its application to determine 
the parties reconciled. Its offering on the altar conditionates the covenant ; its ap- 
plication to the people makes them parties to the covenant. It is the one blood that 
§,ccomplishes the pacification. Hence Moses sprinkles the reserved portion of the 
atoning blood on the people, saying, " Behold the blood of the covenant, which the 
Lord hath made." According to all these words. The book of the covenant which 
Moses had read contained the terms of the covenant to which they had now consented. 

9-11. The ascent to a certain point in the mountain side, to which reference was 
made in the first verse, is now accomplished. To what point they ascended would 
be a very unprofitable inquiry. It is incomparably more imj^ortant to mark the fact 
that now, when the covenant has received its solemn and final sanction, the people 
have access to Ood. Hence by their representatives they enter into the presence of 



174 THE CLOSING OF THE COVENANT. 

God. 10. And they saw the God of Israel. We take these words in their simple sense. 
Whatever were the sensible circumstances of the divine presence, they were permitted 
to see with the eye of sense. Whatever aspect of God himself with face averted from 
them was presented to them, they discerned, we may venture to presume, with the 
eye of the spirit. Hence they do not say a word of the ** similitude of any figure" of 
the Divine Being, because they had not seen any such (33 : 20-23 ; Deut. 4 : 15-19). 
The God of Israel. As he was the God of Abraham when alone, the God of Jacob 
when the head of a family, so now he is the God of Israel as a people in covenant 
with him. A paved work of sapphire. But the spectators of that heavenly vision can 
only describe the outwardly visible glory that came before them. This phrase is 
otherwise rendered " a work of the whiteness or transparency of sapphire." It is not 
of great importance which rendering is adopted, as what they saw is only compared 
with this, and therefore only distantly illustrated by it. But we prefer the former 
rendering, with Aben Ezra, because the sapphire is of various colors, blue, red, yel- 
low, and white, and the word " work" (niZ/U/O) ^^ generally connected, not with color, 
but with the material, the art, or the artificer. A paved work of sapphire is descrip- 
tive of a scene of matchless splendor, having the qualities of adamantine solidity, 
transparence, and brilliancy. The suhstance of heaven for purity. The substance of heaven 
is a phrase for the very heaven itself. Nothing less than the spotless purity and lustre 
of the skies above is fit to be compared with the inexpressible beauty and grandeur of 
that which was beneath the feet of the God of Israel. With this short sentence ends 
the description. A fancy sketch would have been more copious. 11. Upon the nobles of 
the sons of Israel he laid not his hand. He did not consume them with the fire of his 
holiness, because they had now with the whole consent of their minds entered into a 
covenant of peace with him through the blood of atonement. They were therefore 
favored with the vision of the Almighty. They beheld God. This is the verb generally 
emploj'^ed to denote the vision of the prophet. It denotes attentive and absorbed 
contemplation. And ate and drank. Notwithstanding the contemplation of the in- 
finitely holy One, they continued to discharge the functions of an earthly life. This 
is supposed to refer to their partaking of their peace-ofiferings on their descent ; but 
it seems to be merely a proverbial phrase to denote the continuance of life. 

12-18. This passage describes the ascent of Moses to the actual summit of the 
mount. Come up. This may be understood to imply that Moses and the others had 
descended to partake of the sacrificial feast. At all events, they were still within 
reach of any of the people who might have business with them. But Moses was now 
to ascend farther. And be there. Abide there for a considerable time. Tables of 
stone, slabs or tablets on which the law was written. The law, or doctrine concerning 
God and his rights. The commandment, the authoritative rule for the conduct of man. 
The reasonable nature of the ten words inscribed on the tables of stone appears from 
the fact that they first reveal a doctrine, and then impose an obligation founded on 
that doctrine. Which I have written. These words were not only spoken by the voice, 
but written by the finger, of God, who herein displays a wondrous care of his chosen 
people. To teach them. In the original we have here the same root that is contained 
in the word rendered '* law." God's law is a doctrine, a philosophy, a theology. 

13. And Moses rose up, from a state of rest and contemplation. And Joshua his 
minister. Joshua has already come before us as captain of the host against Amalek 
(17 : 9). He is described here as the minister, attendant, or adjutant of Moses. His 
presence has not been noticed among^ those who went up to the mountain. He must 



EXODUS XXIV. 13-18. 175 

have been in attendance upon Moses. Some suppose he was one of the seventy 
elders, but his youth militates against this view. 14. Before leaving them Moses 
commanded the elders to await his return where they were, and pointed out Aaron 
and Hur as his representatives to the people. 15. He now at length ascends into the 
mount, accompanied by Joshua alone to the very verge of the cloud which covered 
the mount. 16. Six days he waits in the precincts of the cloud, and on the seventh 
day he is summoned into the presence of the Majesty on high. If the giving of the 
law fell on the sixth of the third month, and a day be allowed for the ratification of 
the covenant, the seventh day after, on which Moses at length ascends into the 
mount, will be the fourteenth of the third month. 17. The sons of Israel contem- 
plated with solemn awe the glory of the Lord displayed on Mount Sinai, which ap- 
peared to them as a vast flame of devouring fire. 18. Into this flaming mount Moses, 
at the call of God, ascended, and abode in that wondrous scene forty days and forty 
nights. The stately march of the narrative throughout this passage corresponds with 
the unparalleled grandeur of the occasion. 



SECTION Y.— THE TABERNACLE. 

XIII. PLAN OF THE TABERNACLE.— Ex. 25-31. 

CHAP. XXV. — THE AKK, TABLE, AND CANDLESTICK. 

2. n?Ol"in g^^^? o.'^^PXV, that which is lifted up or heaved, and hence denoting 
specially the heave-offering, which got its name from the manner in which it 
was heaved up when presented. 

4. n/Dn '^""^'-^^oS, violet or Mue, a dark blue obtained from the murex, a shell- 
fish of the coasts of Phoenicia, Laconia, and North Africa. The dye is originally 
white, then green, and lastly a blue purple. 

110!inJ^ '^op'P'f^P"', red, purple, obtained from the purpura, a fish of Syrian and 
Peloponnesian shores. 

ny^n '^^^■^'^- ''j]V crimson, from a root signifying to sMne. The two words 
denote the Kermes worm or the dye obtained from it. This worm or insect is 
found on the ilex or holm oak in Palestine and the south of Europe. 

^^ ;3i>crao5, Jlax, the shenti of old Egyptian, which was fine flax, not cotton. 

5. ti^nn i^ variously conjectured to be the badger, the seal, the dolpin, and the 
tacasse, a species of antelope found in Africa ; r. rWH ^^ silent., it is said from 
its hibernation. 

^' D1V2 ^^' QWI^ sweet smell, spice. Cti^S the 'balsam, by the insertion of I in the 
Arabic form of the word. This plant is common in Palestine. C'']2D ^P'^c^^, P^'>'- 
fumes, from the sweet smell. 

16. ninj; testimony. -j:iy to de fast, firm, sure, "liyn assure, attest, -^y witness. 
^V'^fix, appoint, j-jiy appointed meeting, regularly constituted assembly. 

17. p|"l93 lAafyTT^fHov, kniBefia, propitiatorium, mercy-seat ; r. in Kal, lay on 
(pitch) ; in Piel, expiate. 

29. n"iyp TpvfS/.iov, a large dish or plate for bread. Those presented by the 
princes of Israel weighed each one hundred and thirty shekels, or about five 
pounds troy w^eight (Num. 7 : 13). 

rj3 palm, sole. In pi. QvlaKat, howls or smaller plates for holding frankincense, 
which were placed upon the bread. Each of those presented by the princes 
weighed ten shekels, or about four and a half ounces. 

nilii^p (77rov(5eZa, bowls or flagons holding wine for libations. 

n^"^"jJD 'f^'^^oi, cups used in drink-offerings. 

XXV. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying : 2. Speak unto the sons of Israel, 
that they take for me an offering : of every man whose heart is willing ye shall take 
my offering. 3. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them ; gold and silver 
and brass. 4. And blue and purple and crimson ; and fine linen and goats' hair ; 5. 



EXODUS XXV. 177 

And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins ; and shittah wood ; 6. Oil for the 
light ; spices for the anointing oil and for the incense of perfumes ; 7. Onyx stones, 
and stones for the ephod and for the breastplate. 8. And they shall make me a sanc- 
tuary, that I may dwell among them. 9. According to all that I show thee, after the 
pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its instruments, even so shall ye 
make it. § 59. 

10. And they shall make an ark of shittah wood : two cubits and a half shall be its 
length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11, And 
thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it : and 
thou shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12. And thou shalt cast for 
it four rings of gold, and put them on its four feet : and two rings shall be on the one 
side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13. And thou shalt make staves of 
shittah wood, and overlaj^ them with gold. 14. And thou shalt put the staves in the 
rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark with them. 15. The staves shall be in 
the rings of the ark ; they shall not depart from it. 16. And thou shalt put into the 
ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 

17. And thou shalt make a mercj^-seat of pure gold : two cubits and a half shall be its 
length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18. And thou shalt make two cherubim of 
gold ; of beaten work shalt thou make them, on the two ends of the mercj^-seat. 19. 
And make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end ; out of 
the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on its two ends. 20. And the cherubim shall 
spread out two wings above, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces 
each to the other ; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cheiubim be. 21. 
And thou shalt put the mercy-seat on the ark from above : and in the ark shalt thou 
put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22. And I will meet with thee there, and 
speak with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which 
are upon the ark of the testimony, of all that I command thee concerning the sons of 
Israel. TI 40. 

23. And thou shalt make a table of shittah wood : two cubits shall be. its length, and 
a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 24. And thou shalt overlay it 
wdth pure gold, and make for it a crown of gold round about. 25. And thou shalt 
make for it a border of a handbreadth round about, and make a crown of gold for the 
border thereof round about. 26. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold ; and 
put the rings on the four corners of its four feet. 27. Over against the border shall be 
the rings for places for the staves to bear the table. 28. And thou shalt make the 
staves of shittah wood, and overlay them with gold ; and the table shall be boine witk 
them. 29. And thou shalt make its dishes, and its bowls, and its flagons, and its 
cups, to pour out withal : of pure gold shalt thou make them. 30. And thou shalt set 
on the table shew-bread before me alway. "TI 41. 

31. And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold : of beaten work shall the 
candlestick be made ; its block and its shaft, its cups, its knops, and its flowers, 
shall be of the same. 32. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it ; ; 
three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of 
the candlestick out of the other side. 33. Three almond-shaped cups in one 
branch, a knop and a flower ; and three almond-shaped cups in another branch, 
a knop and a flower : so for the six branches coming out of the candlestick. 34. And 
in the candlestick shall be four almond-shaped cups, its knops and its flowers. 35. 
And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two 
branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same ; for the six 
branches coming out of the candlestick. 36. Their knops and their branches shall be 
of the same ; all of it shall be one beaten piece of pure gold. 37. And thou shalt make 
the seven lamps thereof ; and he shall set up the lamps thereof and give light over 
against it. 38. And its snuffers and its snuff-dishes shall be of pure gold. 39. Of a 
talent of pure gold shall he make it with all these vessels. 40. And see that thou 
make them after their pattern, which thou wast shown in the mount. § 60. 

The substance of the covenant made in the previous section may be conveyed in 
the formula : " I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God" (6 : 7 ^ 
19 : 5, 6 ; 20 : 2). The natural consequence of this is that he will take up his abode 



178 THE MATERIALS FOB, THE TABER]S"ACLE. 

among them, and enter into all the intercourse of sacred fellowship with them. For 
this purpose an abode is to be prepared for God, and provided with the needful fur- 
niture. But inasmuch as the people belong to a fallen race, upon whom the curse of 
disobedience has descended, a type at least of propitiation and intercession must 
form a part of the ceremonial intercourse between God and his people, until the reality 
of these priestly functions has at length arrived. 

The tabernacle is the home of God among his ransomed people. It is in general 
an adumbration of the great primeval dwelling-place of God, where he holds converse 
with the manifold ranks and estates of his rational and righteous creatures. We are 
wont to imagine this to be some central place whither the myriads of the intelligent 
universe may convene for the business of heaven, and for the recreations of hospita- 
ble and friendly intercourse in the heaven of heavens. But we are not to bind the Om- 
nipresent to this habitual conception of our minds. For aught we can know there 
may be as many centres of home for the Supreme as there are spheres of spiritual 
beings susceptible of the unutterable joys of the divine home and presence and con- 
verse. Hence there may be a broad basis of truth in all the varying interpretations 
which the prolific imaginations of thoughtful men have put upon this profoundly in- 
teresting portion of Scripture. But with a due regard to the occasion on which the 
tabernacle was instituted, the stage at which human knowledge had then arrived, and 
the life and freshness of the truth which it shadows forth, it is best to adhere to the 
simple idea of a home, where God dwells on terms of affectionate and familiar intimacy 
with his redeemed and reconciled people. This is the generic conception of the tab- 
ernacle. Yet we should come far short of a correct apprehension of its nature, if we 
did not bring out into conspicuous prominence its specific difference. It is to be 
remembered as a fact of essential moment that the people among whom God is here to 
dwell are undergoing a process of sanctification, which is begun in each individual by 
accepting a pardon freely bestowed and a propitiation typically made on his behalf. 
Hence the paternal house or heaven, which the tabernacle represents, is not merely 
the general home of the intelligent universe, but the heaven of the redeemed, where 
the Lamb will be a conspicuous figure, and the psalm of praise will be the new song 
of redemption, transcending in its revelation of the divine nature the older song of 
creation. Hence the whole service of the sanctuary is typical of the higher blessings 
of salvation, of the true High Priest, of the really atoning sacrifice, of the heaven of 
redemption, and of that spiritual fellowship which the saints will have with the Lord 
in glory. It is the flower of the whole economy of grace, giving fair promise of the 
fruit in due season. Hence we can understand the place and space given to the taber- 
nacle in this book of the exodus. The tabernacle expands and completes what was 
represented in brief by the lamb of the passover. It sets forth the blessings which 
flow from reconciliation. It is the glorious end to which all the preliminary steps of 
the deliverance and the covenant lead. It occupies a proportionate amplitude of 
space in the records of God's dealings with his people. Seven chapters are devoted to 
the specifications of the tabernacle, and six to its construction and erection, between 
which are three chapters giving an account of a lamentable act of unbelief and apos- 
tasy on the part of the chosen people. 

Of the seven chapters of specification three are assigned to the tabernacle itself, 
three to the priest of the tabernacle, and one to the arrangements for having the whole 
carried into effect in an efficient and irreproachable manner. 



EXODUS XXV. 1-9. 179 

The present chapter contains directions concerning the contribution of the mate- 
rials, and the construction of the ark, the table, and the candlestick, 

1-9. The order for the contribution of materials to construct the tabernacle. An 
offering is here a gift called by the name of the heave-offering (39 : 27). Of every mem 
whose heart is willing. A forced service is only a bodily service. A free-will offering is 
alone acceptable to the Searcher of hearts. 3-7, The materials of the offering and of 
the tabernacle are all definitely prescribed. There are three metals ; three colors of 
animal origin ; two textile fabrics, the one vegetable, the other animal ; two sorts of 
skins ; one species of wood ; oil from the olive ; spices ; onyx stones, and other pre- 
cious stones, twelve in number, for setting. Beckoning spices as one class, and pre- 
cious stones as another, we have here twice seven kinds of material, of which four are 
from the mineral kingdom, four from the vegetable, and six from the animal. Blue is 
a purple color from the murex ; purple is the red purj)le obtained from the purpura ; 
and crimson the red extracted from the coccus or kermes, supposed by some of the 
ancients to be a berry, but in reality an insect adhering to the holm oak. Fine linen, 
a product for which Egypt was celebrated. Bams' skins dyed red. This cannot be 
naturally rendered skins of red rams. Badgers' skiyis. The badger is a native of 
Europe. It is probable that the animal here intended is different ; but whether it 
be the seal, dolphin, tacasse, or some other animal is a matter of conjecture. The 
familiar word badger may be retained with the understanding that it is used for an 
unknown animal easily obtained in the peninsula of Sinai. Shittah wood. This is the 
Egyptian and Arabic shant, or acacia, which must have been large and abundant in 
the time of Moses. It is now employed by the Arabs for making charcoal, and is 
therefore seldom allowed to attain to a great age. Oil is obtained from the olive tree, 
a native of Asia, and abounding in the south of Europe. Spices. Arabia is cele- 
brated for its spices, which are here comprehended under a generic term. The pre- 
cious stones are afterward • enumerated (28 : 16), and the ephod and breastplate de- 
scribed (28 : 6, 15). 

8, 9. A sanctuary. A holy place, where God might dwell among his people. Its 
chief distinction was its holiness, as it was to be among the children of the fall, who 
were morally impure. According to all that I show thee. I am about to show thee the 
pattern of the tabernacle, and of all things connected with it. The tabernacle itself 
was a type of the dwelling-place of the Most High in the heaven of heavens. But the 
pattern of it was the ideal form or plan according to which it was to be constructed 
for earthly use. The divine origin of this plan proves the profound significance of 
the tabernacle and all its appurtenances. 

It is obvious that there is an analogy between the tabernacle service and the ritual of 
the Egyptians and other Gentiles. But it is equally obvious that the resemblance between 
them is not the result of servile imitation or simple adoption on the part of Moses. It 
is founded on deeper and, more recondite principles. In the first place, the constitu- 
tion of the human race involves a fundamental similitude in the modes of human wor- 
ship. This race was in its head created after the image of God in reason, will, and 
power, and then by an act of disobedience plunged into the abyss of guilt and sin. 
The common reason, though stunned by this fall, will arrive at certain common prin- 
ciples of religious truth, mingled and distorted, no doubt, by dark and fatal miscon- 
ceptions. In the next place, tradition has left indelible traces of primeval facts and 
thoughts upon the mind of man, which have entered into combination with the thou- 
sand strange and grotesque vagaries of a wanton imagination. And lastly, Moses was, 



180 THE MERCY-SEAT. 

in the providence of God, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians of that day, and 
equally familiarized with all the experience of the Midianites in the wilds of Arabia. 
Through a mind so trained for twice forty years the Lord was pleased to convey to 
his people the written revelation of his will, the fundamental principles of his law, 
and the minute specifications of his worship. These facts are sufficient to account for 
the originality and independence of the Mosaic economy, and for the resemblances 
and differences which may be traced between it and the religious institutions of sur- 
rounding nations. It is to be expected, not that the early customs of the Egyptians 
and Midianites will throw much light on those of the Israelites, but rather that the 
latter in their plainly-written form will contribute to the elucidation of the former. 
And accordingly this expectation has already been in a very signal manner realized. 
The antiquities of Eastern nations, from Egypt to Assyria and Babylonia, are con- 
stantly receiving illustration from the Bible. 

10-16. The ark of the testimony. The ark, like the tabernacle itself, derives its whole 
importance from that which it contains. It is a box or chest of shittah wood. The 
shant of Egypt and Arabia grew to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet. Its wood 
was light, durable, and capable of taking a polish and of resisting damp. The cubit 
is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is variously esti- 
mated at a foot and a half and upward to a foot and three quarters. It contains two 
spans, and each span three palms or handbreadths. The Babylonian cubit, which 
consisted of seven palms, seems to have been sometimes employed (2 Chron. 3:3; 
Ezek. 40 : 5), but only after the captivity. 11. And thou shalt overlay it. This was not 
a mere gilding, but a covering of the surface with thin plates of gold, as we infer from 
1 Kings 6 : 16, and 2 Chron. 3 : 6. The Talmud goes so far as to conclude that three 
chests were made, an outer one of gold plate, a middle one of shittah timber, and an 
inner one of gold plate. Upon it a crown of gold. This was a border or cornice of pure 
gold round the upper edge of the ark, adorning, and at the same time strengthening 
it for the support of the mercy-seat. 12. Four rings or staples of gold are to be fas- 
tened on the two sides or ends of the ark. They are to be attached to the feet or sup- 
ports by which the ark was raised above the level of the floor. 13-15. The staves or 
poles were of acacia wood overlaid with gold. They passed through the rings at the 
ends of the ark, and as these were attached to the feet the ark was elevated above the 
bearers (1 Kings 8 : 8). 16. Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony. This testimony is 
the ten commandments engraven on the two tables of stone (31 : 18). These ten 
words are the testimony of the Lord to the people concerning the relation subsisting 
between them, and the duties consequent thereon. The contents of this cabinet dis- 
tinguish it from all heathen chests of a similar kind in which were deposited certain 
symbols of the powers of nature which man regarded with a superstitious venera- 
tion. Here are placed the two tables, on which are traced in plain and literal charac- 
ters the great principles of eternal rectitude, not as an object of worship, but as the 
basis of all moral dealing in the intercourse between God and man. There is a sig- 
nificance in the very order in which the portions of this symbolical structure are spe- 
cified. The moral law is the very centre of the whole system of moi'al things ; and 
accordingly this is first defined and located. The ark in which it is to be deposited 
is the first article provided for the house of God. 

17-22. The mercy-seat. The ark is but a part of a greater whole ; and hence there 
is rightly no break here in the Hebrew text. The mercy-seat is not the mere cover- 
ing of the ark, which had most probably a lid forming a constituent part of itself. It 



EXODUS XXV. 17-30. 181 

is a separate piece, composing, with the ark, a unity, not so much in outward form as 
in inward design. It is of pure gold, to denote that expiation maintains the unalter- 
able sanctity of the moral law ; as everything must be absolutely perfect which pro- 
ceeds from or comes into contact with God. Its length and breadth correspond with 
those of the ark which contains the testimony, as the propitiation must satisfy the 
law in all its length and breadth. Two cherubim. For a description of the cherubim, 
see on Gen. 3 : 22-24. The cherubim here are symbolic figurations of those celestial 
attendants on the divine majesty. They are to be of -gold, as representative 
of pure and perfect beings. Of beaten work. They are to be formed by the 
hammer of malleable gold. 19. Out of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cheru- 
bim on its two ends. It appears from this that the cherubim on the two ends and the 
mercy-seat formed one piece of workmanship, either by being beaten out of one 
mass, or by being permanently fastened together into one whole. The former seems 
the more natural sense of the words. 20. These figures have wings, spread out so as 
to overshadow the mercy-seat ; and their faces are toward one another, and toward 
the mercy-seat. These cherubic figures had two wings and only one face. They had 
the attitude of observant attention, and guarded with their wings the place of the 
divine manifestation, as became the intelligent and potential ministers of the divine 
presence. These figures, then, are the symbolic indication of the Shekinah, or 
dwelling of God among men ; an abstraction which is often applied in Eabbinical 
style to the present Deity. 

21, 22. The mercy-seat on the ark from above. The mercy-seat, with the attentive 
overshadowing cherubs, is placed above the ark which contains the testimony. This 
arrangement is significant of the intercourse of God with fallen man, being founded 
on the basis of immutable rectitude, through a propitiation which meets all the de- 
mands of the violated law. And I will meet thee there, appoint a meeting, and meet 
thee by appointment. Hence the tabernacle is called the tent of meeting by appoint- 
ment. And speak with thee . . . of all that I command thee concerning the sons of 
Israel. This is to be the place of revelation. A definite place is necessary for man, 
especially in his infantile state, though not for God, who is omnipresent. The cher- 
ubim, however, are no part of Deity, and their figures no semblance of God. They 
merely indicate and mark the boundaries of the place where God manifests his pres- 
ence. 

Hence we perceive that the ark, mercy-seat, and cherubim form one piece of em- 
blematic workmanship, symbolizing not God, but the atonement ; the holiness of God 
expressed by the law, and his mercy indicated by his manifested presence between 
the cherubim, being mediated or brought into harmony by the propitiation figured by 
the mercy-seat. The great fundamental principle of reconciliation is mooted here, to 
be afterward developed and illustrated in the other parts of the tabernacle. From 
this centre of communication with God we proceed in this remarkable specification of 
the parts of the tabernacle toward the circumference where the communicating people 
assemble. 

23-30. The table. The table is of acacia, two cubits long, a cubit broad, and a cubit 
and a half high. It is overlaid with pure gold. A border rises a handbreadth from 
the leaf. This ssems to be an addition to the table, and not the upper part of the tres- 
tle on which the leaf rests. The edge of this table, and that of the border upon it, 
are adorned with crowns or wreaths of gold, the one of which, therefore, appears at 
the top and the other at the base of the border. Four rings are attached to the legs 



182 THE CAI^DLESTICK. 

over against the harder, and therefore beneath the leaf, as keepers for the staves or 
poles on which it is to be borne. These staves, like the table, are to be overlaid with 
gold. 

20. Its dishes were bread-plates, of which two were placed on the table, containing 
six cakes each (Lev. 24 : 5, 6). These cakes cannot have been ten handbreadths by- 
five, according to Jewish tradition, as one dish holding such a cake would have occu- 
pied the whole table, which was only twelve handbreadths by six. Its howls were 
smaller vessels for holding pure frankincense (Lev. 24 : 7), which were placed upon 
the two piles of cakes. Its flagons were large cans or decanters, in which a supply of 
wine was kept for pouring into the cups or smaller vessels used for making libations or 
drink-offerings. The drink-offering varied from the fourth part to the half of a hin 
of wine, that is, from a pint and a half to three pints, according to the value of the 
victim (Num. 15 : 1-12). The dishes, flagons, and cups must have been of such a 
size that two of each could stand conveniently on the table. The bread-trays might 
have been five by two and a half or three handbreadths. 

30. Shew-hread. The shew- bread was to consist of twelve cakes, each made of two 
tenth deals, about three and a half quarts, of fine flour (Lev. 24 : 5, 6). This is called 
shew-bread or bread of the face, because it was on the table in the Lord's house, and 
brought God and man face to face on terms of reconciliation and communion. The 
table is the place of paternal and hospitable entertainment. The twelve cakes correspond 
in number with the twelve tribes of Israel. They may be called in one respect the 
united meat-offering of all the people ; but they have a higher significance when they 
are actually partaken of by the priests in the holy place (Lev. 24 : 8, 9). In this re- 
spect they represent the abounding and all-sufficing blessings of eternal life, dis- 
pensed by God, as he manifests himself, and dwells among his people. The priest 
partaking of the bread represents the family of God bountifully and constantly 
regaled by him at his paternal board. The tabernacle swells to its true significance as 
the type of the heavenly home when God is surrounded by his intelligent creatures' 
enjoying, each according to the measure of its capacity, the precious sweets of a sus- 
ceptible moral existence. This home, however, is here presented in that aspect 
which alone is real, and at the same time comfortable to the ransomed sons of a fallen 
race, the salvation of whom, through the superabounding grace of God, gives a touch- 
ing character to, and sheds a mild lustre on, the heaven of man. It has its table 
spread with heavenly fare. The dishes are constantly replenished with bread, and 
the flagons and cups are not there without being filled with wine, which was the 
drink-offering accompanying every sacrifice. Bread and wine are the bloodless feast 
after the sacrifice, and are emblematical of all the blessings of those who are par- 
doned and accepted as righteous through the atoning sacrifice on the altar of propi- 
tiation (see on Gen. 14 : 18-20). 

31-40. The candlestick. This was to be made of pure gold, beaten with the hammer. 
Its hlock, or pedestal ; its shaft, or stalk ; its cups, its knops, and its flowers, orna- 
ments on its branching stalks, shall be all of one piece. 32. Six hranches come off, 
two and two, from the main shaft, at three separate points in the same plane, and 
curved in the form of a quadrant, so that the lamps resting on their extremities are all 
in the same horizontal line with that on the central stalk. 33. Three cups, in the form 
of an almond nut, were on each branch* These appear to have been surmounted by 
a knop or ball, like the apple of the pomegranate, and a flower which is not specifi- 
cally described. 34-36. And in the candlestick, that is, the main shaft, shall be four 



EXODUS XXVI. 183 

cups, knops, and flowers. Under eacli pair of branches, and nnder the central lamp, 
a cup, knop, and flower ; and all these beaten out of the one mass of gold. 37. The 
seven lamps rest on the flowers at the extremities of all the stems. He who sets on 
the lamps shall place the candlestick with its lamps parallel to the south side of the 
tabernacle, so as to throw its whole radiance on the opposite side, where the table is 
situated. 38. The snuff -tongs and snuff-dishes explain themselves. 39. The whole 
is to be made of a talent, about one hundred and twenty pounds of gold. Jewish tra- 
dition fixes the height of the candlestick at three cubits, or twice the height of the 
table. This fits it for throwing light over the table, and is therefore more probable 
than the conjecture of Bahr, that its height was a cubit and a half, or equal to that of 
the table. The same tradition estimates the breadth at two cubits, the same as that 
of the table. The candlestick was placed on the south side of the holy place, prob- 
ably at the middle, opposite the table of shew-bread. 

As a piece of furniture, the candlestick evidently serves to give light to those who 
are in the tabernacle or home of God. It is an emblem of spiritual light. The seven- 
fold light is the sanctifying efficacy of the Spirit, as seven is the number of holiness. 
The three pieces of furniture already described are evidently regarded by the divine 
revealer as forming one whole, since at the close of their specification Moses is sol- 
emnly admonished in these words : " and see that thou make them after their pat- 
tern, which thou wast shown in the mount." This ideal unity rests in the salvation 
of the sinner that returns to God, which consists of peace with God, represented by 
the mercy-seat ; propitiation, the benefits of which are set forth in the table, with its 
bread and wine ; and pui-ification, which is symbolized by the candlestick. The 
number three appears not only in the mercy-seat, with the tables of the law beneath, 
and the cherubim of the divine presence above ; but also in the ark, the table, and 
the candlestick. It points to a trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead. 

CHAP. XXVI. — THE TABERNACLE. 

1. ]3ti^'jO dwelling, abode, habitation, mansion. This consists of the inner curtains 

or set of curtains, the tabernacle proper or booth n3C> ^^^ ^^^^ ^^nt ^piK ^^^^ 
outer set of curtains or awning of goats' hair. The two additional coverings of 
rams' skins and badgers' or seals" skins are designed to protect the inner fabric 
from the weather. 

2^n ^ weaver who raises figures in the web. ;|-^j^ a plaiter or weaver in 
general, ^p-^ an embroiderer who works figures with the needle. 

iKXVI. 1. And the tabernacle thou shalt make with ten curtains of fine linen 
twined, and blue, and purple, and crimson ; with cherubim of cunning work shalt 
thou make them. 2. The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and 
the breadth of one curtain four cubits ; all the curtains shall have one measure. 3. 
Five curtains shall be coupled one to another ; and five curtains coupled one to 
another. 4. And thou shalt make loops of blue on the selvedge of the first curtain at 
the end of the coupling : and so shalt thou make on the selvedge of the last curtain in 
the second coupling. 5. Fifty loops shalt thou make in the first curtain, and fifty 
loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling : the 
loops matching one another. 6. And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and 
couple the ciirtains one to another with the taches ; and the tabernacle shall be one. 

7. And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle ; eleven 
curtains shalt thou make. 8. The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the 



184 ■ THE TABERiq-ACLE. 

breadtli of one curtain four cubits : the eleven curtains shall have one measure. 9. And 
thou shalt couple live curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves ; and 
thou shalt double the sixth curtain in the fore-front of the tent. 10. And thou shalt 
make fifty loops on the selvedge of the one curtain that is last in the coupling, and 
fifty loops on the selvedge of the curtain in the second coupling. 11. And thou shalt 
make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and join the tent, and 
it shall be one. 12. And the remnant that is over of the curtains of the tent, the 
half curtain that is over shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13. And the 
cubit on this side, and the cubit on that side, that are over in the length of the cur- 
tains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that 
to cover it. 1-i. And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, 
and a covering of badgers' skins from above. IT 42. 

15. And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittah wood standing up. 
16. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of 
one board. 17. Two tenons shall be to one board, set alike one to another : thus 
shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18. And thou shalt make the 
boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southwards. 19. And 
thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards ; two sockets under 
one board for its two tenons, and tw^o sockets under another board for its two tenons. 
20. And for the second side of the tabernacle northwards there shall be twenty 
boards ; 21. And their forty sockets of silver ; two sockets under one board, and two 
sockets under another board. 22. And for the rear of the tabernacle westward thou 
shalt make six boards. 23. And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the 
tabernacle in the rear. 24. And they shall be doubled beneath, and together they 
shall be complete at the top for the one ring : thus shall it be for the two of them ; 
they shall be for the two corners. 25. And they shall be eight boards, and their 
sockets of silver sixteen sockets ; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under 
another board. 26. And thou shalt make bars of shittah wood, five for the boards of 
the one side of the tabernacle ; 27. And five bars for the boards of the other side of 
the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle to the rear 
westward. 28. And the middle bar in the middle of the boards shall reach from end 
to end. 29. And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of 
gold to be places for the bars ; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold. 30. And 
thou shalt set up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which thou wast 
shown in the mount. § 61. 

31. And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen 
twined, of cunning work shalt thou make it, with cherubim. 32. And thou shalt 
hang it upon four pillars of shittah, overlaid with gold, with their hooks of gold, upon 
four sockets of silver. 33. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, and 
shalt bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony ; and the vail shall di- 
vide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34. And thou shalt put 
the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. 35. And thou 
shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the 
side of the tabernacle southward ; and thou shalt put the table on the side of the 
north. 36. And thou shalt make a covering for the door of the tent of blue, and 
purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, wrought with needlework. 37. And thou 
shalt make for the covering five pillars of shittah, and thou shalt overlay them with 
gold, with their hooks of gold ; and thou shalt cast for them five sockets of brass. § 62. 

After laying down the plan of those pieces of domestic furniture which shadow 
forth the ultimate form and loftiest stage of salvation for man, we descend to the 
habitation in which these are to be placed. The tabernacle proper occupies the 
middle of the three chapters devoted to the material things. It comes after the 
things contained as the accessory after the principal. 

1-17. The mansion. The word tabernacle applies chiefly to the wooden structure 
(nDC^ originally covered with boughs and leaves of trees. The mansion is a more 
general term, referring to its use as an abode. It has been replaced in our version by 
the word tabernacle, which is hallowed in our early associations, and serves the pur- 



EXODUS XXVI. 1-30. 185 

pose of a free rendering sufficiently well. The mansion or abode consists internally 
of a pavilion or set of ten curtains of fine linen thead, interwoven with threads of 
blue, purple, and crimson. The spinning of the yarn was generally, but not ex- 
clusively-, the work of women, while the weaving was more frequently done by men. 
These arts were well known among the Egyptians, as we learn from their numerous 
and interesting monuments. Figures of chervibim were raised on the curtains. 
These were the stated attendants on the Divine Majesty, and were therefore appro- 
priate in his symbolic abode. 2. The ten curtains covered a surface of twenty-eight 
by forty cubits. 3. Ten is the number of completeness. For convenience five of 
these were coupled or stitched together into one piece, and the remaining five into 
another. 4. For the purpose of connecting these two halves the outer edges of the 
two middle curtains are provided with loops. 5. Of these loops there were fifty, and 
therefore forty-nine intervals in twenty-eight cubits, or seven intervals in four cubits. 
The distance between the loops was about ten or twelve inches. 6. These loops were 
conjoined by fifty taches of gold, and the ten curtains were thus formed into one 
mishkan or mansion. This constitutes the inner curtain, which corresponds to the 
tapestry of later times, or to the plastering and papering of* our modern dwellings. 
It covered the tops, the sides, and the western end of the tabernacle. The cherubic 
figures, we may suppose, were so placed on the cloth that they were upright on the 
end wall of the tabernacle, so that they would appear upright above and on the sides 
to an eye placed above the mercy -seat. 

7-15. The tent and its coverings are next described. Curtains of goats' hair form 
the usual tent in the East. The tent (^hK) ^^ ^®^® distinguished from the mishkan. 
The one is cast or spread over the other (40 : 19). Eleven curtains composed the 
tent. 8. They are of the same breadth as the former curtains, but longer by two 
cubits. 9. One part is formed by sewing five curtains, the other by sewing six cur- 
tains together. Half the breadth of the sixth curtain in this part of the tent is to be 
doubled, that is, to hang over the front of the tabernacle. In this way the seam of 
the upper curtains would always be over the middle of the lower curtains. 10, 11. 
The two parts are connected in the same waj^ as before. 12. The tent covers the top, 
sides, and end of the tabernacle, and as there is an additional length of four cubits, 
the one half of it hangs over in front and the other remains over in the rear. 13. 
The single curtain is longer by two cubits than that of the mishkan, and therefore 
allows a cubit to hang over on each side. The difference is needful, because the one 
curtain is within and the other without the boards of the tabernacle. 14. The cover- 
ings of red rams' skins and of badgers' skins afford protection from the rain. 

15-30. The wooden framework, or tabernacle proper. After the pliant materials 
we come to the firm part of the structure. The shittah, shant, or acacia tree, grows 
to a considerable height. The use of the plural number, however, admits of one of 
these boards being composed of more than one trunk. 16. Each board is ten cubits 
long and a cubit and a half broad, that is, at least fifteen feet by two and a quarter. 
As the tabernacle was ten cubits wide, and six boards, or a breadth of nine cubits, 
seem to complete the end (vs. 22), it is probable that the boards were half a cubit 
thick at the bottom. It is most likelj^ however, that for the sake of lightness, they 
tapered on the outside to a thickness at the top of an eighth of a cubit. In this way 
the inside would be vertical, the outside slightly sloping, the boards would have a 
more stable position and be sufficiently strong, and some difficulties in the concep- 
tion of the structure would be removed. 17. The tenons seem to form part of the 



186 THE TABERKACLE. 

length or heiglit of the boards. They are " set alike," or sj'-mmetrically situated on 
the ends of the boards. If they were half a cubit deep, the curtains of the mishkan, 
being twenty-eight cubits long, would exactly cover the top, of nine cubits, and the 
sides, being nine and a half cubits each above the socket or mortise. 18. Twenty 
boards, each a cubit and a half broad, will form a side wall thirty cubits long. 19. The 
forty sockets of silver either rested on the ground or were attached to a solid sleeper 
of wood laid on the ground. The latter method would give the greater stability to 
the structure. 20, 21. The north side corresponds to the south. 22-25. The six 
boards seem to close in the west end, which they will do if the sideboards be half a 
cubit thick at bottom and the measurement be from outside to outside. The corner 
boards are different from the others. If the end wall be placed at right angles to the 
side wall so that their vertical boundary lines coincide, their ends will leave a right 
angle to be occupied by the corner boards. Let the base of the corner board be a 
square cubit, wanting a square half-cubit on the outer corner, and let it taper on all 
its outer sides to a top that shall be a square eighth of a cubit. It is obvious that this 
board will be "doubled" or twinned beneath, as it will have two projecting parts 
at right angles to each other. Its base will be a half cubit thick, and so correspond 
with the thickness of the others. Its breadth will be a cubit every way, and so it wiU 
fill up the void square at the corner, and project half a cubit in the direction of the 
side and the end. Being reduced at the top of the mishkan to a square of an eighth 
of a cubit, it will exactly fill the square at the top, and so be " complete." One ring 
or clamp of metal will serve to make it fast to the adjacent boards of the sides and 
end. As its breadth, omitting the part that is counted a second time, is a cubit and 
a half, it has two tenons like the other boards. This seems to be an intelligible ex- 
planation of this somewhat obscure description. 

26-28. As the middle bar in the middle of the boards reached from end to end, it 
is probable that the other bars were half its length, and hence that three rows of 
rings or keepers ran along the sides — one in the middle for the full length bars, and 
the other two between this and the extremities. As the lower ends of the boards 
were fastened by the sockets, it is not improbable that the upper ends were in some 
way secured. 29 It is generally supposed that the bars were on the outside, and 
therefore the boards were overlaid on the outside as well as the inside with gold, as 
Josephus asserts. But it is possible that the bars were on the inside, and the boards 
only overlaid with gold on the inner side. This would give greater lightness to the 
boards, and would afford the greater reason for making the keepers of gold and over- 
laying the bars. But the point in question is of little importance. 30. A visible 
form of the tabernacle was presented to the mind of Moses on the mount, according 
to which it was to be constructed. 

31-37. The vails and their pillars are now described. The first vail was to be of the 
same material, color, and pattern as the interior curtains of the mansion. 32. The pil- 
lars would probably be half a cubit in diameter at the base. If one were placed in contact 
with each wall, the three equal spaces would measure two and a third cubits, or about 
three and a half feet. 33. The vail is to be suspended under the taches of gold connect- 
ing the two halves of the internal covering. Hence it separates the tabernacle into two 
parts — the most holy place of ten cubits, and the holy place of twenty. If the pillars 
were outside the vail, the interior of the most holy place would be curtained on every 
side. 34, 35. The tabernacle being now divided into its compartments, the position 
of the articles of furniture already made is determined. The ark of the testimony is 



EXODUS XXVII. 187 

to stand at the middle of the -western wall in the most holy place. It is probable that 
the table occupied the middle of the north side, and the candlestick that of the south 
side. We have already seen that these three articles form a unity of symbolic mean- 
ing in themselves, apai-t from the articles yet to be described (25 : 40). 

36, 37. The covering or outer vail is of the same material and colors as the inner, 
but it differs in other respects. The figuration is wrought not by the loom, but by 
the needle ; and the cherubim are not mentioned. It is x^ossible, however, that they 
were raised on the inner, but not on the outer side of the hanging ; as the latter 
was exposed to rain, and outside of the tabernacle or presence-hall of God. As the 
pillars had sockets of a less costly metal, it is probable that they were regarded as ex- 
ternal to the tabernacle, and were, therefore, outside the hanging. If the two ex- 
treme pillars stood at the ends of the sides, the other three divided the east end of 
the tabernacle into four openings of fifteen eights of a cubit, or about thirtj^-four 
inches each. These pillars were adorned with chapiters, and provided with connect- 
ing poles or rods, on which the covering was supported by hooks (36 : 38). We are 
not informed whether the capitals were surmounted by a beam or architrave, giving 
compactness to tjie whole front of the tabernacle. 

CHAP. XXVII. — THE ALTAR AND THE COURT. 

XXVII. 1. And thou shalt make the altar of shittah wood ; five cubits long and five 
cubits broad ; square shall the altar be ; and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 
2. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof : its horns shall 
be of the same ; and thou shalt overlay it with brass. 3. And thou shalt make its 
boxes to remove its ashes, and its shovels and its basins, and its flesh-hooks, and 
its fire-pans : all its vessels thou shalt make of brass. 4. And thou shalt make for it 
a grate, a network of brass ; and thou shalt make on the net four brazen rings on its 
four corners. 5. And thou shalt put it under the border of the altar beneath, and the 
net shall be unto the half of the altar. 6. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, 
staves of shittah wood, and overlay them with brass. 7. And its staves shall be put 
into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it. Hol- 
low, of boards, shalt thou make it ; as it was shown thee in the mount so shall they 
make it. § 63. 

9. And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle : for the south side southward 
shall be hangings for the court of twined fine linen, a hundred cubits long for the 
one side. 10. And its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass ; the hooks 
of the pillars and their rods of silver. 11. And likewise for the north side in length 
shall be hangings a hundred cubits long : and its pillars twenty, and their sockets 
twenty, of brass ; the hooks of the pillars and their rods of silver. 12. And for the 
breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits. 13. And the 
breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 14. Fifteen cu- 
bits shall be the hangings for the one wing : their pillars three and their sockets 
three. 15. And for the other wing the hangings shall be fifteen cubits ; their pillars 
three and their sockets three. 16. And for the gate of the court shall be a covering 
of twenty cubits of blue, and purple, and crimson, and twined fine linen, wrought 
with the needle ; and their pillars four and their sockets four. 17. All the pillars of 
the court round about shall be joined with rods of silver ; their hooks shall be of sil- 
ver and their sockets of brass. 18. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, 
and the breadth fifty everywhere ; and the height five cubits of twined fine linen, 
and their sockets of brass. 19. All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service 
thereof, and all its pins and the pins of the court shall be of brass. 20. § § § 64. 

20. And thou shalt command the children of Israel, and they shall bring thee pure 
olive oil beaten for the light, to set up a continual lamp. 21. In the tent of meeting 
without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it 
from evening to morning before the Lokd : a statute for ever to their generations from 
the sons of Israel. § 65. 



188 THE ALTAK AND THE COURT. 

We now pass into the court of tlie tabernacle. The chief object here is the great 
altar. In the holy of holies we have the ark of testimony, an adumbration of mercy 
and truth met together. In the holy place we find the table and the candlestick, the 
emblems of justification and sanctification. In the court we come upon the altar, the 
symbol of propitiation, standing alone in all its solemn impressiveness. This is the 
order of things in the history of redemption. The purpose of mercy is formed in the 
divine breast. The blessings of spiritual renovation and heavenly inheritance forth- 
with begin to be dispensed. The atonement, through which these legally come, is 
made in the fulness of time. Hence we perceive that the plan of the tabernacle first 
leads us down by sensible stages from God to man. 

1-8. The altar. All former appearances of the altar were occasional : now at length 
it comes before us as a permanent institution. Its framework is composed of the 
shant, the only timber employed about the tabernacle. Its horizontal surface is a 
square of five cubits, or seven and a half feet, and its height three cubits, or four and 
a half feet. 2. Its horns shall he of the same. We conceive that the angle posts of this 
primitive wilderness altar were three cubits high. The horns were the parts of these 
posts that projected above the upper surface of the altar. If they were half a cubit in 
height, the table or upper plane of the altar would be three and three quarters feet 
from the ground. At this height the priest could perform all his functions with con- 
venience standing on the ground. The wooden frame is wholly overlaid with plates 
of brass, which would preserve it from the weather and the fire. 3. The boxes for 
removing the ashes, the shovels for transferring them to the boxes, the basins for 
sprinkling or pouring the blood, the flesh-hooks, and the fire-pans, were to be made 
of brass. 4, 5. The brazen grate of network has been variously interpreted. Many, 
including Kurtz and Keil, understand by the border (2;]}"]^) a ledge half a cubit or a 
cubit broad going round the altar at half its height, on which the priest might stand 
when ofdciating, and by the grate a network descending from its outer edge to the 
ground. But it is obvious that the whole structure, being thus eight or nine feet 
square, with a large quantity of metal, would be too heavy and cumbrous to be port- 
able. Moreover, the rings for the bearing poles, being attached to the grate, would be 
at the extreme edges of this square, and therefore placed in the most inconvenient 
situation either for carrying or preventing a strain on the article to be carried. Ka- 
lisch supposes the border to be at the top of the altar, and the grate to reach down to 
the half height of the altar. But if the grate " reached down from the border to the 
middle of the altar," we do not see how it could " receive whatever might fall from 
the altar," or what other purpose it could serve. And it does not seem to have been 
merely an ornament. By " the half of the altar" we understand not half its height, 
but half its horizontal area. The grate would in that case be a square of nearly five 
and a quarter feet in the middle of the area, surrounded by a margin two and 
a quarter feet broad. This margin, covered at least with a thick layer of brass, 
would be the border ( i^n^) beneath the inner edge of which the brazen grate would 
be fixed to contain the fire beneath the sacrifice. The fine ashes would fall through 
the meshes of the network on the ground, to be removed when convenient. This ex- 
planation is so far favored by the Sept. that both the border and the grate are ren- 
dered, by the eaxdpa, a hearth. It is to the same extent supported by Josephus (Antiq. 
iii. 7, 8). The grate also thus comes out to be an essential part of the altar, and a 
compactness is given to the whole structure. The four rings seem to be the keepers 
for the staves by which the altar was to be carried. 6, 7. The staves are to be put 



EXODUS XXVII. 9-19. 189 

into the rings, and are said to be on the two sides of the altar. The word for side here 
(t;^xt) means not the mere surface, but the lateral portion of a thing, and therefore 
the staves passing through rings attached to the oViter edges of the grate may be 
fairly said to be on the sides of the altar. An article so weighty would have to be 
borne on the shoulders of four or eight men. 8. The boarding may not have extended 
beyond two cubits, leaving half a cubit of the corner posts above for horns, and half 
a cubit beneath for feet. This simple structure would afford the lightest, and there- 
fore fittest, form for a portable altar of the given dimensions. The grate may have 
been a cubit deep. 

9-19. The court. The altar is the principal thing, secondary to which is the court 
in which it stands. 9-12. The court is a hundred cubits long from east to west, and 
fifty cubits broad. The hanging seems to have been a web of fine linen five cubits 
broad. This was suspended on silver rods, supported by twenty pillars on each side, 
and ten on the west end. 13-16. On the east side are two wings or shoulders (rin^) 
of fifteen cubits, and a gate of twenty. The pillars are reckoned by Philo at fifty-six, 
the corner ones being twice counted. But in this way the distance between the pil- 
lars at the side would be different from that between those at the end, and the ac- 
count of the east end would be unintelligible without counting the extreme pillars of 
the gate twice, and so having eight pillars instead of ten, and two other unequal in- 
tervals. All is plain, however, when we accept the sixty pillars. Beginning at the 
east end of the north side we attach the hanging to the corner pillar, but do not count 
it. After that we count twenty pillars for the twenty equal lengths of five pubits in 
the one hundred. Beginning again at the north end of the west side, we do not 
count the corner one, as it was counted already, and ten equal lengths bring us to the 
fiftj^ cubits of that end with its ten pillars. So we proceed with the south side. And 
the south shoulder has three pillars besides the corner one counted before. The gate 
has four besides the extreme one south counted before. And the north shoulder has 
three pillars including the corner one not counted at first. 17. The pillars are pro- 
vided with hooks, on which the rods that connect them and support the inclosing 
canvas rest. The hooks and rods are of silver. We are informed also that the pil- 
lars have chapiters overlaid with silver (28 : 17). The sockets in which they are in- 
serted are of brass. The pillars themselves are usually supposed to be of wood, 
though the material is not mentioned in the text. The overlajdng of the chapiters 
with silver favors this view. 19. All the vessels of the tabernacle, with the exceptions 
already made, were to be of brass. The pins were for fastening the tent and its cov- 
erings, and probably the pillars of the courts. 

The place of the tabernacle we hold to be, not exactly in the middle of the court, as 
Josephus may be construed to mean, but, as Philo explains, twenty cubits from the 
west, north, and south sides of the court. For in this way a perfect square of fifty 
cubits is left in front, to be occupied by the great altar and the laver, with the com- 
pany of officials and worshippers, as we shall see hereafter. 

The altar is representative of the earth, on which sin has been committed and pro- 
pitiation has to be made. Its four sides also correspond with the four quarters of the 
world. Its elevation intimates the lifting up of the sacrifice to the Holy Governor by 
whom it must be exacted. The horns are emblems of power, and denote the virtue 
of sacrifice in procuring remission of sin and all its concomitant blessings. The 
breadth of the altar is five cubits ; that of the court is five tens of cubits, the half of 
its length, and the height of the pillars of the court is five cubits. These are con- 



190 THE ATTIRE OF THE PEIESTS. 

trasted with ten, three, and one, the numerical factors in the tabernacle. They 
adumbrate in their own way the pre-eminence of the tabernacle, which is the type 
of heaven (Heb. 9 : 24), over the court, which is the figurative semblance of the earth. 
And the manifold connections between them, as well as the presence of the altar in 
the court, indicate the design that the earth should eventually become a constituent 
part of the kingdom of heaven. We have seen that the ark of the covenant forms a 
triad in itself, that the ark, the candlestick, and the table form another ; and now we 
notic3 that the most holy, the holy place, and the court form a third. 

20, 21. The oil for the lamps. Olive oil. This is uniformly employed for lights in 
the sanctuary and for anointing. It is a vegetable oil, and fit for the purpose of sig- 
nifying illumination and sanctification. The fat of beasts was employed to represent 
propitiation. 'Pure, taken from the olive alone. Beaten, obtained from olives not 
pressed in a press, but pounded in a mortar. The latter is said to be a sweeter, finer 
oil, and of a whiter color. To set up a continual lamp, a lamp that shall burn without 
interruption, that is, every night in the sanctuary. Some suppose, however, that at 
least one of the seven lamps on the candlestick was allowed to burn all day, so that a 
perpetual flame was ke]pt up in the tabernacle. In the tent of meeting or appointment. 
The tabernacle is here called the tent, because it is viewed from the exterior, where 
it was a tent, not from the interior, where it was a mishkan or pavilion. It is desig- 
nated the tent of meeting, because at its door or at the gate of its court was the place 
for the appointed times of the Lord's meeting with his people. The gate, in the East, 
was the customary place of meeting and transacting business between prince and 
people. Hence to this day we have the Ottoman Porte. Without the vail in the holy 
place stood the candlestick. Aaron and his sons were to set the lamps on the candle- 
stick and light them in the evening, and in the morning clean them and supply them 
with fresh oil (30 : 7, 8 ; Lev. 23 : 3, 4). A statute for ever, an institution to be observed 
as long as the whole ceremonial economy should remain in force. From the sons of 
Israel, to be supplied by them for this sacred use. 

A new synagogue lesson begins with these two verses, whereby their connection 
with that which follows is signalized. They form indeed a transition from the taber- 
nacle to the priest of the tabernacle. The oil for the lamps of the candlestick is nat- 
urally mentioned here that we may not leave the tabernacle without light. The light 
indeed is emblematic of the light of him who is Light, and who enlightens his own 
transcendent dwelling-place (Rev. 21 : 23). It serves also to indicate the need of a 
minister of the tabernacle, and so to prepare the way for the office and array of the 
high j)riest. 

CHAP. XXVIII. — THE ATTIRE OF THE PRIESTS. 



4. "j^pi ireast-piece ; r. he fair or graceful. It is perhaps connected with 'j\j]-] 
the lyreast ; r. he strong^ firm. l"j£){^ epTiod, a jacket or shoulder-piece ; r. draw 
on, over, or round. 71^^ robe, a second tunic, without sleeves, worn under the 
ephod, reaching to the knees ; r. cover or extend. DDJHD ''''^'i'tre, tiara ; r. wind, 
LD33N 9i^^dle ; r. hind. 

17. CIK (^^'i-P^'-ov, a stone of a red color, the sardius or carnelian nitOD 'ottu^lov^ 
the topaz of Kush (Job 27 : 19). It is generally of a yellow color ; which agrees 
with von Bohlen's derivation from the Sanscrit pita, yellow. HiPI^ (y/^dpay6oS ; 
r. flash. It is akin to the emerald. 



EXODUS XXVIII. 191 

18. rirj avOpa^^ carbuncle or ruby. "119c ca'K6eipo<^^ sapphire; r. scrapa, 
polish. C/TP '"«^<^^'C ; r- ^eat, strike. Some make this the emerald. It may be 
the diamond, as others take it. 

19. CIl^^ Xiyvptov^ a kind of hyacinth. I'^t^; «a:^^^;5, agate, a conapound of 
quartz, chalcedony, carnelian, jasper, and other ingredients. nD/riN f^/^tOvoroS ; 
r. dream. It v/as supposed to have the power of causing dreams. 

20. t^nti^nn .TP^^'^^i6o5. A gem of Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. JZTW ^^^^5 
as the Sept. elsewhere gives. It is of a pale color, like the human nail. il^B'W'* 
laaTTLi; ; r. shine, le smooth. A stone of a bright green color. 

22. ni72!l ^ bordering or connecting ; r. 'border. Others render it a twisting or 
wreathing. 

30. C'*11{^ ^iff^iis- C/^n perfections, rights. 

XXVIII. 1. And thou bring near for thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, 
from among the sons of Israel, to act as priests unto me ; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, 
Eleazer and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. 2. And tliou slialt make holy garments for 
Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. 3, And thou shalt speak unto all the 
wise of heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of Avisdom ; and they shall make 
Aaron's garments, to consecrate him to act as priest unto me. 4. And these are the 
garments which they shall make ; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a 
chequered coat, a mitre and a girdle : and they shall make holy garments for Aaron 
thy brother, and for his sons to act as priests unto me. 5. And they shall take gold, 
and blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen. II 43. 

6. And they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, crimson and twined 
fine linen, with cunning work. 7. It shall have two shoulder-straps joining it ; at the 
two edges thereof shall it be joined. 8. And the belt for fastening it, which is 
upon it, according to the work thereof, shall be of the same ; of gold, of blue, and 
purple, and crimson, and twined fine linen. 9. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, 
and grave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10. Six of their names on the 
one stone, and the names of the other six on the second stone, according to their 
birth. 11. "With the work of an engraver in stone, the engravings of a signet, shalt 
thou grave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel : inclosed in ouches of 
gold shalt thou make them. 12. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoul- 
ders of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the sons of Israel : and Aaron shall 
bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. § 66. 

13. And thou shalt make ouches of gold. 14. And two chains of pure gold, attach- 
ing shalt thou make them, of wreathen work, and thou shalt fasten the wreathen 
chains on the ouches. § 67. 

15. And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work ; after the 
work of the ephod shalt thou make it : of gold, of blue, and purple, and crimson, 
and twined fine linen, shalt thou make it. 16. It shall be square, doubled ; a span 
shaU be its length, and a span shall be its breadth. 17. And thou shalt set in it set- 
tings of stone, four rows of stones ; a row of sardius, topaz, and emerald, shall be the 
first row. 18. And the second row a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19. And 
the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 20. And the fourth row a chryso- 
lite, and an onyx, and a jasper ; they shall be mounted with gold in their settings. 
21. And the stones shall be with the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according 
to their names ; with the engravings of a signet each with- its name, shall they be for 
the twelve tribes. 22. And thou shalt make upon the breastplate attaching chains of 
wreathen work of pure gold. 23. And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings 
of gold, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24. And thou 
shalt put the two cords of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. 25. 
And the other two ends of the two cords thou shalt fasten on the two ouches, and put 
them on the shoulders of the ephod, in front of it. 26. And thou shalt make two 
rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, on the border 
thereof which is on the side of the ephod inward. 27. And thou shalt make two rings 



192 THE ATTIRE OF THE PRIESTS. 

of gold, and put them on the shoulder-straps of the ephod beneath, in the front of it, 
over against the joining thereof, above the belt of the ephod. 28. And they shall 
bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, to be 
upon the belt of the ephod, that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. 29. 
And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment 
upon his heart, when ho goeth into the holy place, for 41 memorial before the Loud 
continually. 30. And thou shall put in the breastplate the Urim and the Tummim : 
and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord ; and Aaron 
shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel upon his heart before the Loed contin- 
ually. § 68. 

31. And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32. And there shall be 
a hole for the head in the midst thereof : it shall have a binding round the hole of it 
of woven work, as it were the hole of a habergeon, that it be not rent. 33. And thou 
shalt make upon the hem of it pomegranates of blue, and purple, and crimson, round 
about the hem thereof ; and bells of gold between them round about. 34. A bell of 
gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe 
round about. 35. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister : and his sound shall be 
heard, when he goeth into the holy place before the Loed, and when he cometh out ; 
and he shall not die. § 69. 

36. And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it with the engrav- 
ings of a signet, holiness to the Lord. 37. And thou shalt put it on a lace of blue, 
and it shall be upon the mitre ; upon the forefront of the mitre shall it be. 38. And 
it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things 
which the sons of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts : and it shall be upon his 
forehead continually, that they may be accepted before the Loed. 

39. And thou shalt weave in figures the coat of linen, and thou shalt make a mitre 
of linen, and thou shalt make a girdle of needlework. 

40. And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them 
girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them for glory and beauty, 41. And thou 
shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and thou shalt anoint 
them, and fill their hand, and sanctify them, and they shall be priests unto me. 42. 
And make for them linen breeches to cover the flesh of nakedness ; from the loins 
even unto the thighs shall they be. 43. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his 
sons when they go into the tent of meetings, or when they draw nigh to the altar to 
minister in the holy place ; and they shall not bear iniquity or die : a statute for ever 
to him and to his seed after him. § 70. 

As soon as we arrive at the altar we feel the need of the priest who is to officiate 
thereat. The priest stands at the middle point between God and man in this descrip- 
tion. Hitherto we have come forth from God to man. With the priest we shall pres- 
ently return from man to God. From God the priest comes to man, authorized to 
invite the sinner to return with penitence, confession, and faith to God, and to make 
the propitiatory sacrifice for all who return. From man he returns to God, having 
made propitiation, to make prevailing intercession for all whom he represents. His 
generic character then is to be the mediator between God and man, authorized on 
the one hand, and accepted on the other. His specific difference is, that, inasmuch as 
man is sinful, he has to make the expiation that satisfies for sin, and renders his 
mediation effectual. The present chapter enjoins the calling and clothing of Aaron 
and his sons in official robes. The garments of the priests are so minutely specified, 
not because the outer covering is of any importance in itself, provided it be only 
decent and comely, but because it is intended to be symbolic of the various duties 
which the priest has to perform. This design comes out again and again in the de- 
scription, and gives an instructive significance to matters which would otherwise have 
been left to the taste of the individual. Teaching by figures was peculiarly appropri- 
ate in the infantile state of the world, when men had their very ideas yet to form, and 
oral instruction and literary ediication were open to a very few. 



EXODUS XXVIII. 1-14. 193 

1-5. The call to tlie priesthood, and the general enumeration of the priestly gar- 
ments. And thou. Moses has been hitherto the plenipotentiary of heaven, including 
all ofi&ces and powers in himself. To him, then, all commands are issued. Bring near 
for thee. For thy part bring near unto me. From among the so7is of Israel, who are all, 
in a larger sense, " unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (19 : 6). To he 
priests unto me. The term v-i^ (Kohen) is sometimes applied to a civil officer, bearing 

the same relation to the king that the priest does to the King of kings (2 Sam. 8 : 18 ; 
20 : 26 ; 1 Kings 4 : 8 ; 1 Chron. 18 : 17). Hence it originally means a mediator, advo- 
cate, or intercessor appointed by the sovereign. The element of sin in the case of 
man involves the office of expiation in an efficacious mediator, and this is the priest, 
strictly so called. 2. Holy garments. Holy because divinely prescribed, and having 
a holy significance. They figured the righteousness which is the outward garb of a 
soul loyal to God. For glory and for beauty. Glory is the outshining of intrinsic 
excellence. Beauty is that pleasing characteristic which distinguishes the glorious 
from the shameful. For evil has its sensible outgoing of shame and ugliness. The 
inward cannot but have its corresponding outward show to an all-penetrating eye. 
The highest of all excellence is moral rectitude, the glory and beauty of which are 
shadowed forth by the priestly garments. 3. The wise of heart. The heart is the term 
for the whole mental faculties in the metaphorical usage of Hebrew speech. The 
spirit of loisdom here is that pre-eminent mechanical skill which is competent to con- 
ceive and realize the design in hand. 4, 5. Six parts of the sacerdotal attire are here 
enumerated, three of which are peculiar to the high priest— the breastplate, the 
ephod, and the robe. The other three are common with him to the other priests — the 
chequered coat, the mitre, and the girdle, with this difference, that in place of the 
mitre, the common priest has the bonnet or turban (vs. 40). The number three is 
conspicuous here, as in the structure of the tabernacle. The doubling of this num- 
ber in the high priest's attire indicates his pre-eminence in priestly rank. The 
materials of which they are to consist are the same that were used in making the 
inner curtains of the sanctuary. 

G-14. The ephod. The materials and workmanship of the ephod and the curtains of 
the mishkan are the same, with the exception of the cherubim. 7, 8. A patient con- 
sideration of the description of the ephod leads to the conclusion that it was a shoul- 
der-piece (e~cjui5, Sept.) or single lappet covering the back and reaching under the 
arm. This was kept in its place by two contrivances : First, tivo shoulder-straps ex- 
tending from the upper part behind were attached to the side pieces under the arms 
that came out in front immediately above the waistband : Secondly, the belt along the 
lower part of the ephod went round the waist, and so fastened it on. The Kabbins, 
indeed, and many commentators after them, hold that there were two lappets, each a 
cubit in length, one in front and one behind, connected by two shoulder-straps. But 
this is against the text, and against Josephus, who expressly states that the ephod 
left the breast uncovered (Antiq. iii. 7, 5). The lappet, straps, and belt were all of the 
same materials, and apparently of the same piece. The gold was beaten into thin 
plates, and cut into wires, in order to be interwoven with the blue, and purple, and 
scarlet, and fine linen (39 : 3). 9-12. Two onyx stones are to be set in ouches of gold 
on the shoulders of the ephod. The names of the sons of Israel are to be engraven, 
six on each stone, according to their hirth. The names of the elder six sons, according 
to Josephus, were on the right shoulder, and those of the other six on the left. The 
probable arrangement is, Keuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali ; Gad,. Ashsr-,. 



194 THE EPHOD. 

Issakar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin. These stones are to be stones of memorial for the 
sons of Israel before the Lord. The engraven names, like all writings, perpetuate the 
remembrance of the persons or things named. This, therefore, intimates that the 
descendants of Israel are on the memory of the high priest when he appears before 
the Lord. And the direction concerning these names indicates that in all this the 
God of mercy has Israel in perpetual remembrance. The office of the high priest has 
a twofold aspect, as he is the plenipotentiary of heaven to man, and as he is the 
propitiator of heaven for man. The badge of official authority was carried on the 
shoulder. Hence the ephod with its onyx stones shadows forth, on the one hand, 
the authority of the high priest as appointed of God to his high office. On the other 
hand, the bearing of the names on the shoulder indicates the propitiatory power of the 
high priest's office. The shoulder is the seat of bearing power. And bearing the 
names of the sons of Israel is a forcible Hebrew symbol for saving them by an inter- 
position, which prevails in virtue of a proper atonement. By a familiar expansion 
of the figures, the high priest appears as the shepherd (Gen. 49 : 24) who bears the 
lambs on his shoulders. He thus becomes the significant type of the great High 
Priest, whose everlasting arms are underneath his ^people. The onyx stones are two, 
simply because the shoulders are two on which the people are borne. The names are 
in a group upon these stones, to indicate that the one atonement is made for the 
whole body of the faithful. 

13, 14. These two verses stand by themselves in the original text, and form the 
transition from the description of the ephod to that of the breastplate. The ouches of 
gold seem to be those in which the onyx stones are set. Attaching. The word jr^;^")-!?; 
is very obscure. The meaning, "twisted," now generally given to it, is implied in 
the following word. It appears to refer to the use made of the chains. They were 
formed not of rings, but of gold threads twisted in the manner of a cord. These are 
fastened on the ouches, and serve to suspend the breastpiece, and form a close con- 
nection between it and the onyx stones. 

15-30. The breastplate of judgment, loyelov rrjS Kplaeui, (vs. 30) is not a plate 
strictly so called, but a piece of figured stuff like the ephod ; which, when doubled, 
formed a square of a span, or about nine inches each way. 17. Thou shalt set it in 
settings of stone. The twelve stones were to be set in gold (vs. 20). The settings may 
have been separate, biit it is much more likely that they were connected in a square 
frame of gold, which was attached to the variegated cloth of the breastplate, as the 
settings of the onj^x stones to the shoulder-straps of the ejphod. The names of the 
twelve sons of Israel were to be engraven on these stones. The probable equivalents 
of* the Hebrew names of these stones are given in the version. It is of no impor- 
tance to ascertain the precise nature of each stone, as the particular name engraven 
on each is not specified. It suffices to know that the characters of the tribes were as 
different as those of the stones. 22-25. The wreathen or twisted chains before men- 
tioned in connection with the ephod (vs. 15) are here introduced in their relation to 
the breastplate. They are hooked on two rings attached to the upper corners of the 
breastplate, while their other ends are fastened, as already stated, to the ouches on the 
shoulders of the ephod 26-28. The breastplate, thus suspended, is to be kept in 
its place by a lace tying a ring on each of its two lower corners to a corresponding 
ring on each of the lower ends of the shoulder- straps above the belt of the ephod. 
26. The two rings of the breastplate are to be placed on the border of it, on the farther or 
lower side of the ephod, inward; that is, on the side next the ephod. 27. The two rings 



EXODUS XXVIII. 29, 30. 195 

of tlie ephod are to match tliem underneath on the ends of the shoulder-straps, which 
are continued down to the belt, in the front of it, on the borders of it which come under 
the arms to meet the breastpiece, which overlaps it, and covers the space left in 
front. Over against the joining thereof, the joining of the shoulder-strap with the side 
and with the belt of the ephod. 

29. The breastplate itself, filling ap the space of a span on the breast between the 
two shoulder-straps, and attached thereto above and below, is to be regarded as the 
complement of the ephod. As the breastpiece was two spans or a cubit deep, so 
Josephus informs us (iii. 7, 5) that the ephod was of the depth of a cubit, and so ex- 
tended as far below the belt behind as the breastplate itself before. Being part of a 
common whole, they share in a common significance. The names on the breast- 
plate, in common with those on the ephod, serve for a memorial of Israel before the 
Lord (vs. 12). As the heart, in its ethical sense, is the seat of intellectual and moral 
faculty, the breastplate on the heart is the emblem of oracular and judicial utterance. 
Hence it is called the breastplate of judgment, and in the Sept. Tioyelov rfjS npicEuc, 
the oracle of judgment. In this respect the high priest appears as the authoritative 
and inspired sj^okesman of him who is the God of truth and the Judge of all the 
earth. On the other hand, the bearing of the names of the sons of Israel on his heart 
is a symbol of intercession, the second half of the priestly mediation for the children 
of God. As each name is now on a separate stone, so every individual believer in 
Him who has made the all-covering atonement has a special place in that all-prevail- 
ing intercession which is continually going on at the throne of grace. 

30. The Urim and the Tummim. And thou shalt put into the hreastplate. The 
breastpiece itself is a piece of elaborately finished cloth (vs. 15). The symmetrical 
set of precious stones mounted in gold, whether separate or in a common frame, had 
to be constructed apart, and then placed loithin the compass of ( ^^) the breastplate, 
and attached to it in the ordinary way. This is expressed, not before, but now, in 
the words above quoted. This being so, the Urim and Tummim are the twelve 
precious stones mounted in gold, which are now put in the breastplate. And they 
shall be upon Aaron' s heart when he goeth in hefore the Lord. These significant stones 
shall be on the breast of the high priest when he goes in to intercede, or essays to 
consult the Lord for Israel or a son of Israel. 

And Aaron shall hear the judgment of the sons of Israel upon his heart before the Lord 
continually. A judgment is a decision or sentence according to law or right. Now 
the right of those who are actually guilty, and therefore obnoxious to the penalty of 
the law, resides not in themselves, but in their high priest, who gives satisfaction for 
the offence, and fulfils the requirements of the law on their behalf. Hence Aaron is 
said to bear the judgment of the sons of Israel when he ijrosecutes their cause before 
the Lord on the merits of his of&cial compliance with the law in their stead. And he 
is said to bear the judgment of the sons of Israel when the Urim and Tummim are 
upon his heart, simply because these words are a significant name for the set of 
precious stones on which their names are engraven. The precious stones, distinct 
from, yet bearing the names of, the sons of Israel, appear to stand for him who has 
been already described as " the Stone of Israel" (Gen. 49 : 24), or more precisely to 
point out certain of his leading qualities, either in their unity, as the onyx on the 
shoulder, or in their diversity, as the twelve stones on the breastplate. These qualities 
are expressed by the terms the Urim and the Tummim, the lights and the rights, ren- 
dered by the Sept. rriv 6ri7.uaLv nal tI'iv uArfJaav. Hence the importance of this highly 



196 THE URIM AKD TUMMIM. 

significant emblem for determining tlie spiritual meaning of tlie breastplate. Now 
the two leading qualities of a precious stone are brilliance and hardness. For the 
latter some may incline to substitute perfection, purity, or freedom from any flaw. 
The stones of the breastplate, then, are naturally called the lights in respect of their 
brilliance, and the rights (perfections or purities) in respect of their hardness (or per- 
fection). These two qualities in the stone represent the light and the right that are 
in the high priest for the enlightenment and the reconciliation of those who come to 
God by him. He exercises the functions of teaching and sacrificing, as the type and 
shadow of a greater than himself. The Lord above is the great Illuminator of the 
darkened soul by his quickening Spirit (Gen. 1 : 3 ; 8 : 3 ; 12 : 7 ; 48 : 15), and at the same 
time the great Vindicator from the evil consequent on sin (Gen. 48 : 16) by a right- 
eousness not then fully manifested to the infant church. The deep import of the 
Urim and the Tummim, however, already dawned upon the early believer, when he 
witnessed the high priest clothed with the divinely-instituted breastplate, making an 
offering on the altar, accepted by fire, for the sins of the people, and returning orac- 
ular answers from God to the reverent inquirer ; and when he felt within himself the 
new-born emotions of faith and repentance toward God, and of that peace of con- 
science which arises from the confidence that an atonement has been made and ac- 
cepted on his behalf. It pleased the Lord to indicate the light and right which he 
vouchsafed to his people by the precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest ; 
but it was not his pleasure that these should reside in the stones as a charm in an 
amulet. Hence, though it was ordained that the high priest should be clothed in the 
ephod and breastplate when the Lord was consulted through him, yet the divine re- 
sponse was not always either withheld in the absence of the breastplate, or granted 
when it was present. The Lord had various ways of communicating knowledge to 
the high priest, by an audible voice, and by other means which we cannot precisely 
define. But we have no ground whatever for the fancy that he conveyed verbal 
messages to the high priest by illuminating or raising up certain letters on the stones. 
The four letters j-], jj, xj, p, do not occur on the stones. And besides, no possible 
advantage can arise from this gratuitous conjecture, as there is no scarcity of possible 
ways in which the oracular response may have been given. Here it becomes us to 
observe the rational, intelligible, and open meaning of this most significant part of 
the sacerdotal attire. There is nothing concealed : no idolatrous, mystical, or magical 
object or image, such as the Teraphim (Spencer, Legg. Ritual, iii. 3, 2), or three an- 
cient stones, one for the affirmative, one for the negative, and a third for neither 
(Michaelis, Mos. E. i. 52), or diamond dice (Ziillig) ; nothing like the golden figure of 
the Goddess of Truth (Thmei) worn by the chief judge of Egj^pt (Diod. Sic. i. 48, 75) ; 
but simply a series of precious stones worn openly on the breast, with the names of 
the twelve sons of Israel engraven in plain letters on them for a memorial. These 
are called Urim and Tummim, lights and rights in reference to the high functions of 
prophetic revelation and priestly intercession which were exercised by the high priest 
for the benefit of the people. 

31-35. The robe of the ephod. This phrase implies that the robe belonged to the 
ephod ; and hence the three pieces— the breastplate, the ephod, and the robe— were 
regarded as one whole. The robe is to be entirely of blue. It is a close-fitting garment, 
having an aperture for the head, and slits, we must understand, for the arms. It was 
without seam, being entirely woven, even to the hem or binding round the neck. It 
reached to the knee, being longer than the ephod, and shorter than the checkered coat. 



EXODUS xxYiii. 33-39. 197 

33-35. Upon the skirt of it were to be pomegranates of bine, and purple, and crimson, 
alternating with bells of gold. Aaron is to wear this robe when he ministers ; and 
thus his sound shall be heard when he goeth into the holy place, and when he cometh 
out, that he die not. This robe is a type of that which preserves from death. Now 
we know that disobedience is the cause of death, and of course obedience is the safe- 
guard against it (Gen. 16 : 17). The robe, then, is a symbol of that righteousness 
which is the only security of eternal life. Without this robe, then, the high priest 
may not appear in the presence of God, on pain of death. The sound manifests to 
Aaron and to all concerned that the mail of proof has been put on, and the dread of 
death is removed. It is not probable that the people in general were so near as to 
hear the tinkling of these bells, and therefore we cannot suppose that the actual hear- 
ing of the sound during the ministration of the high priest within the sanctuary was 
intended to convey any intimation to them. This view of the robe confirms the im- 
port of the ephod and breastplate that are connected with it. The conjoint indication 
of the threefold whole is, that the high priest is appointed by God to bear the sins of 
the people, to intercede on their behalf, to reveal to them the truth of God, and to 
appear in a perfect righteousness as their representative. 

36-38. The crown of holiness (39 : 30). Before proceeding to the parts of the 
priestly attire which are common to all priests, the significant crown of holiness is to 
be added to what has gone before. This consists of a plate of pure gold, attached to 
the mitre by a lace of blue, so that it may rest on the forehead. On this plate is en- 
graven the phrase, Holiness to the Lord. By the names of the sons of Israel on the 
precious stones Aaron was marked out as the representative of the people. By the 
sentence on the diadem he is signalized as the representative of God. In him is typi- 
fied that intrinsic holiness on account of which alone the people can be accepted. By 
this holiness alone can he be qualified to undertake the cause of the people, and so 
" bear the iniquity of their holy things," that they may be accepted before the Lord. 
It is notable that in the significance of the ephod and the breastplate the bearing of 
the people is mentioned, and in the explanation of the crown the bearing of their 
sins is brought forward. The reason of this seems to be that in the former case the 
power and wisdom of the mediator are regarded, in the latter his holiness is made 
prominent. It is also worthy of remark that in the ephod the priestly office is obvi- 
ous, in the breastplate the prophetic comes into view, and in the crown of holiness 
the kingly makes its appearance, while at the same time the priestly discloses itself 
throughout. 

39. In one verse the three pieces of dress that are common to all the priests are 
summarily described. The coat of linen is to be checkered or figured in the loom. 
It was worn above the shirt, provided with sleeves, and reaching to the feet. It was 
probably an emblem of moral purity. The mitre was of the same material, and seems 
to have been wrapped round the head like a turban. On the front of it was attached 
the golden plate described in the previous verses. The bonnet was used by the ordinary 
priest in place of the mitre. The girdle was also of linen, embroidered with the needle. 
Josephus says that it was four fingers wide, wound twice round the body, and tied in 
front, the ends hanging down to the feet. Maimonides asserts that it was three fingers 
wide and thirty-two cubits long. It forms a very ornamental part of Eastern dress. * 

* It is to be remembered that these arrangements of dress, washings, sprinklings, incense, anoint- 
ings, etc., form parts of one typical, symbolical whole. When the antitype came, they passed away as 
a whole, and any attempt to perpetuate detached parts has been attended with evil.— J. H. 



198 THE COls^SECRATIOK OF THE PRIESTS. 

40-43. The dress of the other priests consisted of coats, girdles, and bonnets. For 
glory and heaidy (vs. 2). Garments of splendid appearance and pleasing to the eye 
become the incomparable dignity of the priestly of&ce. 41. The chapter now closes, 
as it began, with directions to put these garments upon Aaron and his sons, to anoint 
them, to fill their hand, and sanctify them, that they may minister to the Lord in the 
priests' office. The filling of the hands is the placing of the prescribed sacrifices in 
their hands, in the offering of which they are not only sanctified for, but instituted 
into, their office. The Levitical priests had to offer for themselves, as they were but 
fallen men, like their fellow-worshippers, and therefore but types and shadows of a 
true and perfect priest to come. 42. The breeches are mentioned apart because they 
do not belong to the official dress of the priest, but are prescribed for the sake of de- 
cency. The organs of excretion are called the flesh of nakedness, because their ex- 
posure is the exposure of a defilement connected with decay and death, and indicative 
of that moral defilement which brought death into the world of mankind. These 
parts are to be specially concealed in those who are to be types of moral purity when 
thej^ approach the tent of meeting or the altar. The " statute for ever" may be re- 
garded as applying to the whole of the regulations concerning dress. 

Tradition records that the old garments of the priests were unravelled and made 
into wicks for the lamps at the feast of tabernacles. 

CHAP. XXIX. THE CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTS. 

; 24. nDl^n ^ wave-offering ; r. wave to and fro. 
27. HDinri ^ lieave-offering ; r. be high. 

XXIX. 1. And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them to 
act as priests unto me : 'take one young bullock and two rams without blemish. 2. 
And unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes tempered with oil, and unleavened 
wafers anointed with oil ; of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3. And thou shalt 
put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two 
rams. 4. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tent of meet- 
ing ; and shall wash them with water. 5. And thou shalt take the garments, and 
clothe Aaron with the coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breast- 
plate ; and gird him with the belt of the ephod. 6. And thou shalt set the mitre 
upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. 7. And thou shalt take the 
anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him. 8. And his sons thou shalt 
bring, and clothe them with coats. 9. And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron 
and his sons, and bind on them bonnets : and the priestly office shall be theirs for a 
perpetual statute : and thou shalt fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons. 
10. And thou shalt bring the bullock before the tent of meeting ; and Aaron and his 
sons shall put their hands uj^on the head of the bullock. 11, And thou shalt kill the 
bullock before the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. 12. And thou shalt take 
of the blood of the bullock and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and 
pour all the blood at the bottom of the altar. 13. And thou shalt take all the fat that 
covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat 
that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14. And the flesh of the bullock, 
and his skin and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp : it is a sin- 
offering. 15. And thou shalt take the one ram ; and Aaron and his sons shall lay 
their hands upon the head of the ram. 16. And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou 
shalt take his blood and sprinkle upon the altar round about. 17. And thou shalt 
cut the ram in pieces, and wash his inwai'ds and his legs, and put them on his pieces 
and on his head. 18. And thou shalt burn the whole ram on the altar : it is a burnt- 
offering unto the Lord' a sweet savor, an offering by fire unto the Loed. 19. And 
thou shalt take the other ram ; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the 



EXODUS XXIX. 1-28. 199 

head of the ram. 20. And thon shalt kill the ram and take of his blood, and put it 
upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, 
and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot ; 
and thou shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 21. And thou shalt 
take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon 
Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his sons and upon his sons' garments with 
him ; and he shall be hallowed and his garments, and his sons and his sons garments 
with him. 22. And thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that 
covereth the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that 
is upon them, and the right shoulder ; for it is the ram of consecration. 23. And 
one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one wafer, out of the basket of 
unleavened bread that is before the Loed, 24. And thou shalt put all in the hands 
of Aaron and in the hands of his sons ; and thou shalt wave them for a wave-olfering 
before the Loed, 25. And thou shalt take them out of their hands, and burn them 
upon the altar for a burnt-offering, for a sweet savor before the Loed : it is an offer- 
ing by fire unto the Loed. 26. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of consecra- 
tion which is Aaron's and wave it for a wave-offering before the Loed : and it shall 
be thy part. 27. And thou shalt hallow the breast of the wave-offering, and the 
shoulder of the heave-offering, which is waved and which is heaved up, of the ram of 
consecration, of that which is to Aaron and to his sons. 28. And it shall be Aaron's 
and his sons' by statute for ever from the sons of Israel ; for it is a heave-offering : 
and a heave-offering shall it be from the sons of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace- 
offerings, their heave-offering unto the Loed. 

29. And the holy ^arments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to anoint them 
therein and to fill their hands in them. 30. Seven days shall the priest after him of 
his sons put them on, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to minister in the 
sanctuary. 31. And thou shalt take the ram of consecration, and seethe his flesh in a 
holy place. 32. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram. and the bread 
that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. 33. And they shall eat those 
things wherewith atonement was made, to fill their hands and hallow them : and a 
stranger shall not eat thereof, for thej^ are holy. 34. And if there remain any of the 
flesh of consecration and of the bread until the morning, then thou shalt burn the re- 
mainder with fire : it shall not be eaten, for it is holy. 35. And thus shalt thou do 
unto Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee : seven days 
shalt thou fill their hand. 36. And thou shalt offer every day a bullock of sin-offering 
for atonement : and thou shalt purge the altar, when thou makest atonement upon it, 
and thou shalt anoint it to hallow it. 37. Seven days shalt thou make atonement 
upon the altar, and hallow ii" : and the altar shall be most holy; whatsoever toucheth 
the altar shall be holy. § 71. 

38. And this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar ; two lambs of the first 
year day by day continually. 39. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning and 
the other lamb thoTi shalt offer between the evenings. 40. And a tenth deal of flour 
mingled with the fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and for a drink-offering the fourth of 
a hin of wine for the one lamb. 41. And the other lamb thou shalt offer between the 
evenings, and shalt do thereto according to the meat-offering of the morning and ac- 
cording to the drink-offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering by fire unto the 
Loed. 42. A continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the 
tent of meeting before the Loed, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee. 43. 
And there I will meet with the sons of Israel ; and it shall be hallowed by my glory. 
44. And I will hallow the tent of meeting and the altar : and Aaron and his sons will 
I hallow to act as priests to me. 45. And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and 
will be their God. 46. And they shall know that I am the Loed their God, that 
brought them forth out of the land of Mizraim, that I might dwell among them : I 
am the Loed their God. "fi 44. 

Having given specific directions concerning the official attire of the priests, the 
sacred writer proceeds to settle the mode of their consecration or solemn induction 
into office. 

1-28. The form of consecration. In this solemn process Moses, hj special 



200 THE C0KSECKAT10:N" of the PllIESTS. 

appointment of heaven, is to act the part of priest and consecrator, and so 
lay the foundation of the Aaronic priesthood. To consecrate the priests is to 
hallow ihem to act as priests unto the Lord. It consists of three chief parts : (1) 
anointing them • (2) making atonement for them by sacrifice ; (3) causing them to 
perform a part of tlieir office, in earnest and in token of the performance of the whole 
thenceforward with full authority. All this is preceded by three preliminary arrange- 
ments. 1-3. First, the bringing forward of the articles for sacrifice. The offering 
consists in its fullest form of three parts — the animal or proper sacrifice, in which the 
blood that makes atonement was shed, the meat-offering, and the drink-offering. In 
these two the thanksgiving and self-devotion of the offerer are jointly expressed ; and 
hence the meat-offering only is sometimes employed, as in the present instance, to 
denote this state of mind. The three animals for sacrifice are a young bullock and 
two rams. Without blemish. This outward freedom from fault is symbolic of that 
intrinsic integrity or perfection which must belong to the real sacrifice for sin. Three 
kinds of bread made of wheaten flour are employed for the meat-offering — bread baked 
in the usual manner ; cakes mingled with oil, a kind of short bread, perforated, as its 
name indicates ; and wafers \^ith oil spread upon them. These indicate the fulness 
and variety of the feelings and duties acknowledged. They are all unleavened, in token 
of the sincerity of the worshipper. They are put into one basket as being one offer- 
ing, and are brought forward with the bullock and the rams. 

The second preliminary is the bringing forward of Aaron and his sons, the parties 
to be set apart for office. Unto the door of the tent of meeting. The tent has been already 
described (26 : 7-15). It was stretched over the tabernacle. It is called the tent of 
meeting, because it is the appointed place of meeting with God on the part of the 
high priest, and also on that of every stated assembly of the people on solemn occa- 
sions (vs. 42, 43 ; see on 12 : 3). At the door of the tent means in a circle, the circum- 
ference of which touches the door, be the same more or less, according to the number 
constituting the meeting. It is obvious that a door ten cubits wide and a gate to the 
court of twenty cubits will allow a wide scope for the phrase at the door of the tent of 
meeting. And shalt wash them loith water. At the time when this direction would be 
carried into execution the laver (30 : 17-21) would have been constructed, and placed 
between the altar and the door of the tent (40 : 11, 12), say twenty-five feet from each. 
Hence Aaron and his sons were at the door of the tent of meeting when they were 
twenty-five feet from the entrance. The washing with water is one of the figures for 
personal cleansing or sanctification, while the sprinkling with blood shed at the altar 
was typical of legal cleansing or jvistification. 

5, 6. The investiture is the third preliminary. The coat is first put on over the 
shirt, then the robe, then the ephod and breastplate, with the- belt of the ephod, and 
lastly the mitre, with the crown of holiness, on the head. "We have already seen the 
typical significance of the articles of dress. Aaron being now present in his official 
attire, and accompanied with the offerings, the consecration or solemn ordination is 
to take place. 

7. The first part of the proper ordination is the anointing. The composition of the 
anointing oil is afterward prescribed (30 : 22-25). The mode of application is pouring 
upon the head. He thus becomes a mashiach, a representative of the great Messiah. 
The anointing denotes qualification for office by the enlightening and sanctifying 
operation of the Spirit of the Lord. 

8, 9. The sons of Aaron are now brought forward. Their investiture is summed up 



EXODL'S XXIX. 8-25. 201 

in the direction to clothe them with coats. And then girdles are put on Aaron and 
his sons. It appears from this that the girdle was put over the belt of the ephod. 
The bonnets are bound on their heads, and must therefore be furnished with ties for 
this purpose. The priestly office shall he theirs for a perpetual statute. The priesthood, in 
its virtue and effect, is absolutely perpetual. In its present form, it lasts as long as 
the Levitical economy. And thou shaltfill the hand. After the qualification comes nat- 
urally the institution, described as the filling of the hands with the instruments of 
office, that they may be used in some initial service. But in proceeding to this we 
meet with the propitiation or atoning sacrifice, by which they become recti in curia, 
right in point of law. 

10-28. The second part is the removal of legal disqualification by a series of sacri- 
fices. The first is the sin-offering (vs. 10-14). Here is the direct recognition of sin 
in the intended officials, and therefore of the need of an atonement. The bullock is 
to be brought before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons are to put their hands 
on its head, in token that their sins are laid on it. This symbolic action takes place 
in all the offerings (vs. 15, 19). Moses is to slay the animal in the presence of the 
Lord. He is to sprinkle of the blood upon the horns of the altar, and pour the rest at 
its base. It is the blood, which is the life, that makes atonement. All the fat cover- 
ing the inwards, the caul or midriff, the kidneys and their fat, are to be burnt upon 
the altar. The fat is the best, and this is to be consumed on the altar, as a satisfac- 
tion to justice beyond the mere privation of life. The remainder of the sin-offering 
is to be carried without the camp, as an unclean thing, and there consumed with fire, 
to indicate that that in which sin resides must be given over to destruction. Such is 
the awful yet hopeful significance of the sin-offering. 

15-18. Next is the burnt-offering. The victim is in this case wholly burnt on the 
altar, to denote that a full propitiation is to be made for guilt. The blood of the one 
ram is to be sprinkled on the altar round about. Its body is then to be cut in pieces, 
perhaps into quarters, the inwards and legs to be washed, and laid upon the pieces 
and the head on the altar. The burnt-offering is as old as Noah's day (Gen. 8 : 20). 
The offering of the whole victim on the altar gives prominence to the idea of a com- 
plete substitution of one for another. It is a sweet savor, because it scents the air 
with the flavor of savory meat, and thereby vividly expresses how pleasing to the 
Almighty is the satisfaction to justice which opens the way to remission and restora- 
tion. It is an offering by fire, because this brings to view the utter destruction that 
awaits everything tainted with sin. 

19-28. The third is the ram of consecration. Touching the body with the blood 
figures the application of that which expiates to the person purged from guilt. The 
ear is the organ of hearing, and therefore understanding and willing. The hands and 
the feet are the two great organs of nearer and more distant outward act. All these 
channels of true obedience needed propitiation. The sprinkling of the blood upon 
the altar noted to whom the expiation was made. 21. This was followed by a remark- 
able sprinkling of the persons and garments of the priests with both the blood upon 
the altar and the anointing oil, to symbolize at the same time the outward and legal 
and the inward and moral purification which was essential to the priestly office. 

22-25. The filling of the hands here begins. This simple but significant act is the 
third and crowning part of the induction of the priests into office. The fat and fatty 
parts of the ram, with one of each kind of cakes in the basket, are taken by Moses. 
The rump. This is the tail of the sheep, which in the broad-tailed species often 



202 THE COisSECKATIOK OF THE PEIESTS. 

weighed twenty pounds, consisting chiefly of fat, and was so valuable that a little cart 
was sometimes placed under it to preserve the fat, and relieve the animal. 24, All 
these are to be put in the hands of Aaron and his sons. From a comparison of the 
present passage with others in the trial of jealousy and the institute of the Nazarite 
(Num. 5 : 18 ; 6 : 19), it ajapears that to put an ofEering into the hands of the offerer 
is to cause him thereby to take a part in the ofEering and in all its consequences. 
The significance of this taking in hand depends on the nature of the offering in ques- 
tion. Here it is the ram filling the hand (vs. 22). Aaron and his sons, then, here 
take the first step in offering, and are thereby initiated in the priestly office. But 
Moses is further directed to wave them for a wave-offering, while they are in the hands 
of the priests. This seems to be accomplished bj^ Moses placing his hands beneath 
those of the priests, and conveying to them a motion to and fro. Waving is explained 
by Maimonides and Kashi to be a going and coming ; that is, a going toward the altar 
in token of dedication to the Lord, and a coming again toward the priest in token of 
transference to the priest as his share.. This, however, does not suit the present case, 
in which the things waved are afterward consumed on the altar. Later rabbins de- 
scribe it as a movement toward the four quarters of heaven, to denote a consecration 
to the omnipresent God. But the horizontal movement probably indicates equality 
of rank, while heaving, a vertical movement, points to superiority and inferiority of 
rank. On this supposition, while either movement may denote an active part in the 
sacred service, waving may shadow forth the communion of the worshippers with one 
another, and heaving the communion of the worshipper with the Being worshipped. 
In the present case, the waving will indicate the communion of Aaron and his sons 
with Moses in the act of sacrifice. After the waving Moses is to take the things waved 
out of their hands and burn them upon the altar. As the ram is here parenthetically 
called " the ram of filling" of the hand, it is manifest that this is the first act of that 
official initiation which is continued through the seven days of consecration (vs. 35). 

26-28. The part of the sacrifice usually assigned to the priest. The first victim 
offered on this occasion is a sin-offering, the second a burnt-offering. After sin has 
been expiated, and complete satisfaction made, reconciliation and communion with 
God naturally follow. Hence the third victim, the ram of consecration, is of the nature 
of a peace-offering, in which the worshipper, still acknowledging his need of atone- 
ment, yet advances to the end of all propitiation— peace with God, communion with 
him, and all the joy of salvation. Hence the peace-offering included a feast upon a 
sacrifice, shadowing forth the communion of the worshippers with God. The priests 
were partakers in this communion ; and accordingly the wave-breast was assigned to 
them, and the heave-shoulder to him who officiated on the occasion (Lev. 7 : 32-34). 
Here, then, the breast of the ram of consecration is assigned to Moses, who for the 
present sums up the whole priesthood in himself. He is to wave it for a wave-offer- 
ing, in token of his communion with the offerers in the blessings of peace and privi- 
lege. 27. He is to hallow, or set apart to a sacred use, the shoulder of the heave-offer- 
ing. The heave-shoulder was to be the share of him who transacted the deed of 
atonement and fellowship with God, in offering up the fat of the peace-offering unto 
the Lord (Lev, 7 : 33). It was taken or heaved up in token of its being offered to God, 
by whom it is assigned to his representative among men. 28. This is the heave-offer- 
ing out of the peace-offerings of the sons of Israel, by a perpetual statute (25 : 2). 

29-37. Additional directions concerning the ordination of the high priest. The suc- 
cessor of Aaron shall put on the official dress of his father at his consecration, and wear 



EXODUS XXX. 203 

it during the seven days of institution. 31-34. The solemn feast of the consecration. 
The flesh of the ram of consecration is to he seethed in a holy place, namely, in some part 
of the court of the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons are then to eat it, with the bread in 
the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. These are the remainder of the things 
wherewith atonement was made to Jill their hands, and set them apart for their sacred ser- 
vice. They are therefore holy, and to be used only by the priests, who are holy. For 
the same reason, any part that remains till the morning is to be consumed with fire. 
35-37. The filling of their hand is to continue seven days. Seven is the number of 
sacredness, and is therefore connected with this most holy transaction. Nothing can 
transcend the moment of that which typifies the atonement between erring man and 
his Maker. Every day a bullock of sin-offering for atonement is to ascend the altar, which 
is to be itself purged thereby. It is also to be anointed, and thus completely hal- 
lowed. Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. This is capable of two meanings. 
He that is to toach the altar must be holy. Or that which in the way of offering 
toucheth the altar, which is not only the medium of propitiation, hut is now made 
most holy, becomes thereby holy, as the altar sanctifies the gift (Matt. 23 : 19). Both 
are true ; but the latter seems most in keeping with the context here and in 30 : 29. 

38-46. The continual burnt-offering, and the resulting communion of God with his 
people. When the order of the priesthood has been instituted the daily sacrifice can 
be celebrated. Two lamhs of the first year, the one in the morning, the other between 
the evenings (12 : 6). 40, 41. The meat-offering is to be the tenth of an ephah of flour 
mingled with the fourth of a hin of beaten oil. The omer, or tenth of the ephah, was 
above three pints, or the daily allowance of one person. A handful of the flour and 
oil was offered on the altar, and the remainder fell to the priest (Lev. 2 : 2, 3). The 
fourth of a hin, about one pint (12 : 36). The drink-offering is to be the fourth of a 
hin of wine. It was poured out about the altar in the holy place (Num. 28 : 7 ; 
Joseph. Antiq. iii. 9, 4). 

42-46. The continual burnt-offering is to be presented at the door of the tent of 
meeting. The altar was probably thirty-three and a third cubits, or about fifty feet 
from the door. The tent of meeting is so caUed, because there the Lord will meet 
with Moses to speak with him. After the sacrifice of propitiation comes the recon- 
ciliation and communion with God, which is here simply and beautifully expressed by 
his meeting and conversing with Moses, the representative of the people. 43. The 
intercourse is extended to the sons of Israel, of course through the high priest. The 
jDlace of meeting is to be hallowed by the glory of the divine presence (vs. 44). The 
tent of meeting, the altar, and the priests, are to partake alike of this sacred character. 
45, 46. God will dwell among t^em and be their God, and by all their past experience 
shall the people know that he is the Lord their God, the self-existent Author of all 
being, who is Eternal and Almighty, and who has deigned to have mercy on them, and 
adopt them to be his people ; and in pursuance of this gracious determination has 
brought them forth out of the land of Mizraim, that he might dwell among them. To this 
glad announcement of his grace, he sets the seal of promise and assurance by adding, 
I am the Lord their God. These specifications of the tabernacle service are no mere dry 
detail, but a record of heavenly life and promise. 

CHAP. XXX. — THE REMAINING ARTICLES FOR THE TABERNACLE. 

23. -]V3 Myrrh, an aromatic plant of Arabia, -^ni "^^2 flowing or liquid myrrh ; 
r. flow, yiy^yi klwu/lujuov, Cinnamon is of the best quality in Ceylon ; r. per- 
haps njp 'f^ed. fijp Ka'Xajio<i grows in Arabia and India. 



204 REMAIKIKG ARTICLES TOR THE TABERISTACLE. 

24. (-|-|p of the same class with nj7''Kp c<^ssia; r. split. 

34. r\'^2 (^'"'K-'^n, a gum spontaneously distilling from the myrrh plant. Others 
take it to be storax, a plant growing in Syria, Arabia, and other countries, 
which yields a fragrant gum ; r. drop. H/Til^ bw^^ onycha, the crustaceous cov- 
ering of the shells of the trochus and conus ; r. scrape off. r\yil1>r\ X^'^I^^^V, the 
gum of the stagonitis growing in Arabia, Syria, and Abyssinia ; r. fat or milTcy. 
nJ2^ A'/3at^o5, frankincense, the native place of which is Arabia Felix ; r. le 
white. 

XXX. 1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon ; of shittah wood 
shalt thou make it. 2. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth 
.thereof : square shall it be ; and two cubits shall be the height thereof : its horns 
shall be of the same. 3, And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, its top, and its 
sides round about, and its horns : and thou shalt make for it a crown of gold around 
about. 4. And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown of it on the 
two flanks thereof ; on the two sides of it shalt thou make them : and they shall be 
places for the staves to bear it withal. 5. And thou shalt make the staves of shittah 
wood, and overlay them with gold. 6. And thou shalt set it before the vail that is by 
the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat that is over the testimony, where I 
will meet with thee. 7. And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of spices : every morn- 
ing, when he dresseth the lamps, shall he burn it. 8. And when Aaron setteth up 
the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn it : a perpetual incense before the Lord 
throughout your generations. 9. Ye shall burn upon it no strange incense, nor burnt- 
offering, nor meat-offering ; neither shall ye pour drink-offering thereon. 10. And 
Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year ; with the blood 
of the sin-offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement upon it 
throughout your generations : it is most holy unto the Lord. 21. •[[•[[ "^ 45. 

11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12. When thou takest the sum of the 
sons of Israel who are numbered, then shall they give each a ransom for his soul unto 
the Lord, when they are numbered ; and there shall be no plague among them when 
they are numbered. 13. This they shall give, every one that passeth among the num- 
bered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary ; the shekel is twenty gerahs ; 
half a shekel is the offering unto the Lord. 14, Every one that passeth among the 
numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give the offering unto the Lord. 
15. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, 
when they give the offering unto the Lord to make atonement for their souls. 16. 
And thou shalt take the money of atonement from the sons of Israel, and shalt give it 
for the service of the tent of meeting ; and it shall be a memorial for the sons of 
Israel before the Lord to make atonement for your souls. ^ 46. 

17. And the Lord spake nnto Moses, saying, 18. Thou shalt also make a laver of 
brass, and its stand of brass, to wash withal : and thou shalt set it between the tent 
of meeting and the altar ; and thou shalt put water therein. 19. And Aaron and his 
sons shall wash thereout their hands and their feet. 20. When they go into the tent 
of meeting, they shall wash with water, and shall not die : or when they come near 
to the altar to minister, to burn an offering by fire unto the Lord. 21. So they shall 
wash their hands and their feet, and not die : and it shall be to them a statute for 
ever, to him and to his seed throughout their generations. 1[ 47. 

22. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 23. And thou take for thee principal 
spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, two 
hundred and fifty, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fiftj^, 24. And of cassia 
five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. 25. And thou 
shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, a perfume compounded after the art of the 
perfumer : it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26. And thou shalt anoint with it the 
tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27. And the table and all its vessels, 
and the candlestick and its vessels, and the altar of incense, 28. And the altar of 
burnt-offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base. 29. And thou shalt hal- 
low them, and they shall be most holy : whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30. 



EXODUS XXX. 1-10. 205 

And Aaron and liis sons tlaou shalt anoint, and hallow them to act as j)riests unto 
me. 31. And thou shalt speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy- 
anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32. Upon man's flesh shall it 
not be poured ; nor shall ye make any like it in its proportion : holy is it, holy shall 
it be unto you. 33. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth of it 
upon a stranger, shall even be cut oft" from his people. § 72. 

34. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and 
galbanum ; spices with pure frankincense : part by part shall there be. 35. And thou 
shalt make it an incense, a perfume, the work of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 

36. And thou shalt beat of it fine, and put of it before the testimony in the tent of 
meeting where 1 will meet with thee : it shall be unto you most holy. 37. And the 
incense which thou shalt make in its joroportion ye shall not make for yourselves ; it 
shall be for you holy unto the Lord. 38. Whosoever shall make like unto it to smell 
thereto shall even be cut off from his people. 

We have already hinted at the order observed in this specification of the tabernacle 
and its appurtenances. The author of this remarkable document proceeds from God 
to man ; from the centre, the ark of the testimony and the holy of holies, to the cir- 
cumference, the altar of sacrifice and the court (25 : 27). He next determines the 
official attire, mode of consecration, and stated functions of the priests (28, 29). And 
then in a closing chapter he returns with the high priest from man to God, from the 
altar of sacrifice to the altar of incense, adding certain things of essential moment 
that occur on this blessed return. The starting-point is the altar of propitiation, 
then the laver of purification, and lastly the altar of praise, including confession, 
adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving. Parallel with the two latter are the ointment of 
sanctification, with which all things are to be hallowed, and the incense of supplica- 
tion, which is to be presented before the mercy-seat. The progress and regress here 
are the prophecy and the history of salvation. First God comes forth to man with the 
mightj^ purpose of mercy in his heart and on his lips for four thousand years. Then 
the great High Priest makes atonement, and returns to the Father to send forth the 
Spirit of sanctification, and to make intercession for all who accept his mediation. 
So the awakened sinner finds the atonement for sin and the cleansing of the heart to 
be on the way to the Father. 

1-10. The altar of incense. It is caUed an altar, a place of slaughtering for sacri- 
fice, though no such offering was to be made on it, to intimate that all acceptable 
worship or service is only through an atonement previously made. It therefore pre- 
supposes, and is itself a monument of, the altar of burnt-offering. To hum incense 
upon. Incense in regard to the priest is only the merit of obedience for another, and 
to burn it is to make intercession for that other. In regard to the general worship- 
per, the offering of incense symbolizes every act of prayer, thanksgiving, or obedience, 
which is accepted through the intercession of the high priest. For the propitiation 
has already been made on the altar of sacrifice, and the sanctification has been 
shadowed forth by the laver. And the redeemed and regenerate man, now filled with 
the spirit of adoption, loves to speak and to walk with his Heavenly Father. 1-5. 
The altar is made of the same wood as the other parts of the tabernacle. It is over- 
laid with gold, and so is in keeping with the table, and stands in close relation with 
the candlestick and the ark of the covenant. It is adorned with a crown of gold, like 
the table and the ark. It is furnished with rings and staves, with which it may be 
moved from place to place. 6. It is to be placed before the vail that hangs before the 
ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat, with which it stands in intimate correspond- 
ence of meaning. Both presuppose an atonement made and accepted ; and over the 



206 THE ALTAR OF INCEKSE. 

mercj''-seat is the presence of God merciful and gracious, and at the altar of incense 
is the high priest presenting the ransomed people, that they and their service may be 
accepted. Hence the addition, where I will meet with thee. In accordance v/ith this in- 
timate connection, the altar of incense was probably placed close to the vail. In this 
way the candlestick, the altar, and the table would stand at the middle points of the 
inner side of the holy place, and the altar would be in closest proximity with the 
mercj^-seat. 7-10. Incense of spices is to be burned on it morning and evening con- 
tinually. No strange incense, none but that prepared by divine appointment (vs. 
34-38), no burnt-offering, meat-offering, or drink-offering is to be burnt on it. Once 
every year Aaron is to make atonement upon the horns of it by sprinkling upon it with 
his finger seven times the blood of the sin-offering of atonement, to cleanse it and 
to hallow it from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel (Lev. 16 : 19). This was di- 
rected to be done also when a sin-offering was to be pr»esented for the high priest or 
the congregation (Lev. 4 : 7, 18). It is most holy unto the Lord. This character is 
ascribed to the inner sanctuary (26 : 33), to the altar of burnt-offering (29 : 37), to all 
the furniture of the tabernacle when anointed (30 : 29), to all the offerings that were 
appropriated to the priests, and to the place in which they were to be eaten (Num. 
18 : 9, 10). In the first of these instances it distinguishes the most holy from the 
holy place : in the others it expresses emphatically the exclusive holiness of that 
which belongs to God. 

11-16. A regulation is here introduced concerning those who are to be enrolled as 
the host of the Lord (Num. 1 : 3). They are to give each a ransom for his soul unto the 
Lord when they are numbered. Here is the constantly recurring intimation that all were 
guilty before God. They cannot, therefore, be received into his service as the host of 
the Lord without a ransom. A plague must fall on the unransomed soul that was 
enrolled in the sacred list. The ransom money is a bekah, or half shekel. This is 
directed to be after the shekel of the sanctuary. The standard is fixed at twenty gerahs. 
We have not the means of ascertaining the value of the coins before the captivity. 
But the approximate value of the shekel was 2s. 3d. (21 : 32). The shekel of the sanctu- 
ary may be one of full weight in contrast with that of commerce, which may have 
been of less weight. We have here the following table of coins or weights : 

Gerah, or hean. 

Beka (Gen. 24 : 22), or half shekel, = 10 gerahs., 

Shekel, or loeight, = 20 gerahs. 

Every one from twenty years old and upward passed among the numbered or regis- 
tered host, and paid the half shekel. The rich and the poor give alike, because their 
souls are of equal value, and the beka is the money of atonement for each. The offer- 
ing is to be for the service of the tent of meeting (38 : 27-31). 

17-21. The laver was to be made of brass, and its stand of the same material (38 : 8). 
Its place was between the altar and the door of the tabernacle. If the interval be- 
tween the door of the tabernacle and the gate of the court (see on 27 : 19) were fifty 
cubits, or seventy-five feet, the altar and the laver may have divided this into three 
equal spaces of twenty-five feet. The Talmud supposes the laver to have been placed 
a little south of the middle line of the court. This will depend very much on the de- 
gree of importance attached to the laver. If it be merely a means of cleanliness, it 
may be set aside. But if its use be a symbol of sanctification, it will stand in the 
same line with the altar. Its jpurpose is washing, that Aaron and his sons may wash 



EXODUS XXX. 22-38. 207 

thereout their hands and their feet. The phrase thereout indicates that water was taken 
out of the laver into a smaller vessel for washing. The washing itself indicates that 
the priests were unclean, not only by mingling with the people, but by their own in- 
herent sinfulness. The feet and hands with which they go and minister are to be 
cleansed, lest they die. Death is the penalty of sin, and therefore this outward 
cleansing is an emblem of that inward purity which must characterize him who is to 
make atonement for the sins of the people. This cleansing is a perpetual statute. 
This is in keeping with its intrinsic importance as the symbol of sanctification. 

22-33. The holy anointing oil. This is to be composed of five ingredients : five 
hundred shekels of pure myrrh, two hundred and fifty of sweet cinnamon, two hun- 
dred and fifty of sweet calamus, and five hundred of cassia, and a hin, about three 
quarters, of olive oil. It is said to be compounded after the art of the perfumer. It 
is probable, therefore, as the Kabbins suppose, that the three spices were soaked in 
water, and boiled, and their essence extracted and mingled with the myrrh and oil. 
26-30. With the anointing oil are to be anointed the tent of meeting, the ark of the 
testimony, the table, the candlestick, and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt-offer- 
ing, the laver, and all their appurtenances. Being thus anointed, they are hallowed, 
and are accounted most holy (vs. 10). Aaron and his sons are to be anointed and 
consecrated to their priestly office. 31-33. This is to be a standing oil for anointing, 
not to be used for common purposes, not to be imitated in ordinary compounds, on 
pain of excommunication (Gen. 17 : 14). The anointing oil is an impressive symbol 
of sanctif jdng grace. It is analogous to the water of the laver, which cleanses. The 
latter points to the quality required ; the former to the end contemplated. That 
which is dedicated to God must be cleansed from stain. 

34-38, The incense. This also contains five simples— stacte, onycha, galbanum, 
frankincense, and salt. Stacte is the natural dropping of some sweet-scented plant, 
probably the storax. Onycha is probably the operculum, claw, or lid of the shell of a 
strombus, or other fish, emitting a scent, which, if not agreeable in itself, enhances 
the sweet odor of the other ingredients combined with it. Galbanum is the gum of a 
si^ecies of ferula {fisTUTiiov Dioscor.) or stagonite (Pliny), of a sharp, bitter taste, fitted 
to add to the strength and duration of the other comj)onents. Frankincense is the 
odoriferous resin of a plant that grew in Arabia Felix and India, which was frequently 
used in religious offerings. Pui-e, free from adulteration. Part hy part shall there he, 
each prepared apart from the others, or an equal part of each shall enter into the 
compound. 35. An incense for burning on the golden altar. A perfume diffusing an 
agreeable fragrance. The work of the perfumer, prepared according to the rules of a 
well-known art. Salted, as every meat-offering was. Salt is the emblem of incorrupti- 
bility. Pure, free from foreign admixture. Holy, dedicated to the holy use for which 
its purity fits it. 36. Beat of it fine, reduce it to a powder, that it may burn freelj^ 
Andpxd of it before the testimony, on the altar of incense, which stood close to the vail 
that separated the holy from the most holy place, containing the ark of the testimony. 
In the tent of meeting, where I will meet with thee. Where the Lord meets with the repre- 
sentative of the people, there is the place of conference, and therefore of prayer, adora- 
tion, confession, and inquiry on the one hand ; and on the other hand of hearing, 
granting, accepting, and answering. Incense is accordingly the emblem of prayer and 
praise. 37, 38. This incense is not to be applied to any ordinary use, or imitated, on 
pain of excision. 



208 THE MASTER OF THE WOEK. 



CHAP. XXXI. THE MASTER OF THE WORK. 

1. ^{^^\J3 Betsalel. This is usually explained, in the shadow of God. i-]*!^ Uri, 
light. 
6. 2^<^7^^? Olioliab, tent-father. Tl'ODTit^ Achisamak, help-hrother. 
10. "i"^ti^ separation, distinction, official distinction ; r. separate, escape, remain. 

XXXI. 1. And the Lord spake tinto Moses, saying, 2. See, I have called by name 
Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah : 3. And filled him with th^ 
spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all work- 
manship, 4. To devise designs ; to work in gold, in silver, and in brass, 5. And in 
cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood ; to work in all workmanship. 
6. And I, behold I have given unto him Aholiab, son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of 
Dan ; and in the heart of every wise-hearted one I have put wisdom ; and they shall 
make all that I have commanded thee : 7. The tent of meeting, and the ark of the 
testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the vessels of the tent ; 
8. And the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick and all its vessels, and the 
altar of incense, 9. And the altar of burnt-offering and all its vessels, and the laver 
and its stand ; 10. And the garments of office, and the holy garments for Aaron the 
priest, and the garments of his sons to serve as priests ; 11. And the anointing oil, 
and the sweet incense for the holy place : according to all that I have commanded 
thee shall they do. ^ 47. 

12. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 13. And thou speak unto the sons of 
Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep ; for it is a sign between me and you 
for your generations to know that I am the Lord that halloweth you. 14. And ye 
shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy unto you : he that defileth it shall surely be put 
to death ; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among 
his people. 15. Six days shall work be done : and in the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, 
hol}^ to the Lord : whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath-day shall surely be put 
to death. 16. And the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath 
in their generations for a perpetual covenant. 17. It is a sign between me and the 
sons of Israel for ever : for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the 
seventh day he rested and was refreshed. » § 74. 

18. And he gave unto Moses, when he made an end of speaking with him upon 
Mount Sinai, the two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of 
God. 

The seventh chapter completes the specifications by naming the chief workman, 
with his second, and assigning to him the execution of all the works. This is fol- 
lowed by an injunction concerning the Sabbath ; and then the scene is closed by hand- 
ing over to Moses the two tables of the law written with the finger of God. 

1-11. The calling of Bezalel. I have called by name, appointed to office by naming 
the man. Bezalel. The order of descent is Judah, Parez, Hezron, Kaleb, Hur, TJri^ 
Bezalel (1 Chron. 2 : 1-20). Hence Bezalel belongs to the seventh generation after 
Jacob, audit is evident that he was now at man's estate, and may have been the father 
of a family. For Kaleb, his great-grandfather, is at least three generations before 
Kaleb the son of Jephunneh, the companion of Joshua, and jjrobably of the same 
generation with Bezalel. Hur, the son of Kaleb, belongs to the fourth generation 
from Judah, and is therefore parallel with Moses and Aaron, who are in the third 
from Levi. 3. Filled him with the spirit of God. His natural powers are hereby ex- 
alted for the works he has to perform. Wisdom to devise, viider standing to apprehend, 
knowledge to explain, and workmanship to make expert. 4, 5. To devise designs, from a 



EXODUS XXXI. 12-18. 209 

mere verbal explanation. To work in tlie various materials employed in the taber- 
nacle. 6. A companion and deputy is provided in Aholiab of the tribe of Dan, whose 
qualifications are described in 38 : 23. And all the wise-hearted men are required to 
take part in the work. 7-11, The various works to be executed are now enumerated. 
10. And the garments of office. The phrase thus rendered occurs only in three other 
places (35 : 19 ; 39 : 1, 41), in two of which it is followed by the words, " to minister 
in the sanctuary." It appears to denote, not the cloths for covering the furniture 
(Num. 4 : 6-14), as they were not strictly for ministering in the sanctuary, nor the inner 
curtains of the sanctuary, as they are previously mentioned in 39 : 40, but the special 
j)arts of official array worn by the high priest to distinguish him from the others. 

12-17. The keeping of the Sabbath is here reinforced, because it might be supposed 
that so holy a work as the construction of the tabernacle might supersede the weekly 
rest. Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep. They are by no means to be remitted, even 
on this extraordinary occasion. It is a sign between me and you. As the Sabbath was a 
divine institution commemorative of that creation in which the progenitor of the 
human race came into being, the observance of it by any remnant of the hum^an family 
was a token that, amid the general apostasy, they had retained or returned to their 
allegiance to the God of their being. For your generations. The commemorative rest 
is to continue as long as the intelligent race whose origin it celebrates. To know that 
I am the Lord that halloweth you. The people called to his favor and hallowed to his 
service know themselves and are known by others to be his by the Sabbath which they 
receive, understand, and sacredlj^ observe. 14, 15. The civil penalty of death, as weU 
as the hierarchical one of excision from the people of God, is attached to its desecra- 
tion. 16, 17. The perpetuity of its obligation, and the significance of its observance 
are then reiterated. In referring to its origin the sacred historian employs the remark- 
able expression, "on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed." The ''refresh- 
ment" must be understood in a sense worthy of him who " fainteth not neither is 
weary." It includes, at all events, the pure delight arising from the consciousness of 
a design accomplished, and from the contemplation of the intrinsic excellence of the 
work. 

18. At the end of the communication made to Moses, the two tables of stone on. 
which were written the ten commandments by the finger of God. To receive these 
he was summoned to appear before the Lord on the mount (24 : 12). The two tables 
were, when placed side by side, somewhat less than two and a half cubits by one and 
a half, if they were to lie beside each other on the bottom of the ark (25 : 10). If 
they were each a cubit square they might easily contain on the four surfaces which 
they present, the six hundred and twenty letters contained in the Decalogue, and could 
be readily carried by Moses. Of testimony. The ten words contain the testimony of 
the Lord regarding the relation of the people to him and their consequent obligations 
(25 : 16). Tables of stone. Stone was the native material for a monumental inscrip- 
tion. It was in constant use for the purpose among the ancients. Written with the 
finger of God. As these ten words were proclaimed by the voice, so they are here said 
to be written by the finger of God. But as they heard on that dread occasion " the 
voice of words, but saw no similitude," so the engraving on stone implies no visible 
finger of God, but only the putting forth of his power for the production of an authen- 
tic and permanent copy of the moral law. 



210 THE ACT OE APOSTASY. 

XIV. THE FIRST BREACH OF THE COVENANT.— Ex. 83-34. 

CHAP. XXXII. — THE ACT OF APOSTASY. 

XXXII. 1. And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, 
and the people gathered unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, who shall 
go before us : for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Mizraim, 
we know not what is become of him. 2. And Aaron said unto them. Pluck off the 
gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and 
bring them unto me. 3. And all the people plucked olf the gold rings which were in 
their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4. And he took them from their hand, and 
formed it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf : and they said. These be thy 
gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Mizraim. 5. And Aaron saw 
it, and built an altar before it : and Aaron proclaimed and said, A feast to the Lord 
to-morrow. 6. And they arose early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings and 
brought peace-offerings : and the peoj)le sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to 
play. ^ 48. 

7. And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down ; for thy people, which thou 
broughtest out of the land of Mizraim have done corruptly. 8. They have turned aside 
quickly out of the way which I have commanded them : they have made them a mol- 
ten calf, and bowed down to it and sacrificed unto it, and said. These be thy gods, O 
Israel, who have brought thee out of the land of Mizraim. 9. And the Lord said unto 
Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people. 10. And now 
let me alone, and my wrath shall wax hot against them, and I will consume them ; 
and I will make of thee a great nation. 11. And Moses besought the Lord his God, 
and said, Why, O Lord, doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast 
brought out of the land of Mizraim with great power and with a mighty hand ? 12. 
Why should Mizraim speak, saying. For evil he has brought them out, to slay them in 
the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the ground ? Turn from thy 
hot wrath, and relent from the evil against thy people. 13. Remember Abraham, 
Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thyself, and spakest unto 
them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven ; and all this land of which I 
have spoken will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. 14. And the 
Lord relented from the evil which he had said he would do unto his people. ^\ 49. 

15. And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testi- 
mony in his hand : the tables were written on both their sides ; on this side and on that 
were they written. 16. And the tables were the work of God ; and the writing of God, 
graven on the tables. 17. And Joshua heard the voice of the people as they shouted ; 
and he said unto Moses, The voice of war is in the camp. 18. And he said. It is not the 
voice of the cry for masterj^, nor the voice of the cry for weakness ; the voice of them 
that sing do I hear. 19. And it came to j)ass when he came nigh unto the camp, then he 
saw the calf and the dances, and Moses's anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of 
his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20. And he took the calf which they 
had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon 
the water, and made the sons of Israel drink of it. 21. And Moses said unto Aaron, 
What hath this people done unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them. 
22. And Aaron said. Let not my lord's anger wax hot ; thou knowest the people, that 
they are set on evil. 23. And they said unto me. Make us gods, who shall go before 
us ; for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Mizraim, we know 
; not what is become of him. 24. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath gold, pluck it 
off ; and they gave it me : and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out. 25. And 
' Closes saw the people that they were broken loose, for Aaron had cast them loose, for 
a hissing among their adversaries. 26. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, 
and said, Whoever is for the Lord, come unto me ; and all the sons of Levi gathered 
unto him. 27. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lokd God of Israel, Put every 
man his sword on his thigh, pass and return from gate to gate in the camjo, and slay 
every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor. 28. 
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses : and there fell of the people 



EXODUS XXXII. 1-6. 211 

tliat day about three thousand men. 29. And Moses said, Fill your hand to-day unto 
the Lord, that every man may be upon his son and upon his brother, and he may be- 
stow upon you to-day a blessing. 

30. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have 
sinned a great sin : and now I will go to the Lord ; mayhap I shall make an atone- 
ment for your sin. 31. And Moses returned unto the Lobd, and said, Ah, this people 
have sinned a great sin, and made them gods of gold. 32. And now if thou wilt for- 
give their sin ; and if not, blot me now out of thy book which thou hast written. 

33. And the Loed said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot 
out of my book. 34. And now go lead the people to the place of which I have spoken 
unto thee ; behold my angel shall go before thee : and in the day of my visitation i 
will visit their sin upon them. 35. And the Lord smote the people, because they 
made the calf which Aaron made. § 75. 

Moses had now been forty days, or little short of six weeks, absefit from the people. 
This was to him a period of adoration, inquiry, and instruction, and to the people of 
patience and probation. The awful voice of the Lord proclaiming in articulate words 
the ten commandments from the pillar of fire on Mount Sinai had struck iipon their 
ears. They had been so awe-stricken with the scene that they besought their leader 
to hear himself the words of the Lord and communicate them to them, promising 
instant and unreserved obedience. The pillar of cloud and fire into which Moses 
had been received was still conspicuous on the mount. But still they had become 
familiar with the sublime spectacle, and the time of their leader's absence seemed 
long. The general mass of them at length gives way to impatience, and Aaron him- 
self, yielding to their importunity, makes them a golden calf as a sensible representa- 
tion of the God whom they still so grossly misapprehended. This was a direct viola- 
tion of the second jDrecept at least of that Decalogue which had received their volun- 
tary assent under circumstances of so great solemnity, though they seem still to have 
intended to acknowledge and adhere to the Lord their God. This untoward event 
warns us against the hasty conclusion that a whole people bowing before God in a 
moment of intense feeling have there and then passed from a fallen to a renewed 
state, rendered a unanimous homage to the God of mercy and salvation, learned the 
whole scheme of theological truth, or acquired the habit of intelligent and uniform 
obedience to the law of eternal rectitude. There has been in all an incipient inten- 
tion of allegiance to the Lord of heaven, but only in some had this been the outgoing 
of a renewed heart, and only in a few has it been so strong as uniformly to resist the 
waj^-^ard impulses and lingering habits of the old nature. Even Aaron is carried away 
by the general movement. The few true hearts are weak and mute. This breach is 
well calculated to impress us with the fact that the true Saviour is yet to come, and 
that we are still in the time of types and shadows. 

1-6. The image worship. Moses delayed, literally, put the expectants to shame by 
his non-appearance, a word very expressive of the state of mind into which the peo- 
ple had got toward the end of the forty days. Make us gods. The plural form is here 
carried in the syntax, and is therefore retained in the translation, though the one 
great object of worship is understood, as when we use the phrase, " the powers 
above." The idol which Aaron forms is accordingly a single figure. WJio shall go be- 
fore us ? This implies an impatience of the unaccountable delay, which in their yet un- 
subdued dispositions they could not brook. They must away to that land of promise 
which presented in their imagination so bright a contrast to the bleak and barren 
wilderness in which they lay encamped. This Moses, with the wand and hand of 



212 THE GOLDEK CALF. 

power, had been to them a tangible proof of the divine presence, precluding the 
necessity of a visible symbol. But they know not what is become of him. He seems to 
have deserted them. At all events, he has been so long absent that they seem to 
have lost confidence in him and respect for him. 2, 3. Aaron demands of them, as 
part of the material for making the idol, the rings of gold which were in their ears, 
apparently to make them feel their personal responsibility for the step which they 
required him to take. They hesitated not to comply. 4. He took the gold trinkets, 
formed it, the idol, with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf. The sacred histo- 
rian takes no pleasure in this transaction, and therefore gives us only a brief and 
general account of it. It is probable that the idol was a piece of wood carved into 
shape, and then overlaid with the gold which was obtained by melting down the ear- 
rings ; and so it became a molten calf. The people accept this as the similitude of 
God, who brought' them out of Egypt. The model after which it was formed was no 
doubt the bull (either Mnevis of Heliopolis, representing the sun, or Apis of Mem- 
phis, representing Osiris), worshipped, as the people were well aware, by the Egyp- 
tians. 5, 6. Aaron, seeing their disposition, proceeds to erect an altar and proclaim a 
feast to the Lord on the morrow. The intention is to worship the Lord, though in an 
unworthy manner. The . next day finds them early engaged in bringing burnt- 
offerings and peace-ofEerings. Of the latter it was the custom to partake, and after 
the festal repast they rose up to play. This phrase includes the wanton license which 
they had been accustomed to witness in the abominable rites of the heathen. 

7-14. This religious revel had taken place on the fortieth day of Moses's abode on 
the mount. He had received the two tables from the Lord (31 : 18), and was there- 
fore prepared to descend, when he was surprised with the order, " Go, get thee 
down, for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Mizraim, have done 
corruptly." In the abhorrence which their idolatrous and licentious worship created, 
they are caUed the people of Moses, and their deliverance is ascribed to him. The 
crime they had committed is then briefly and emphatically described. 9, 10. After a 
pause, in which he has time to recover somewhat from his consternation of mind, the 
Lord calls upon Moses, who was no doubt preparing to make supplication on their 
behalf, to let him alone, that he may consume this stiff-necked people in the fire of 
his just wrath, and make of Moses a great nation. 11. This strong and natural ex- 
pression of righteous indignation does not, however, forbid, but rather calls forth the 
beseeching expostulation of Moses. He urges three reasons why the Lord should 
forego the demands of justice in regard to the people. First, they were his own peo- 
ple, whom he had delivered from Egypt by great power ; secondly, the glory of his 
wisdom and goodness would be tarnished in Egypt ; and thirdly, his promises to their 
fathers would be neglected. Moses makes and could make no appeal to any mitigat- 
ing circumstance in the people themselves. He rises, therefore, at once above all 
this to the purpose of God in bringing them out of Egypt, which was not to destroy, 
but to save, and that not themselves only, but by them the whole race ultimately ; 
then to the lesson which was to be read to Egypt, and which would be unread if Israel 
were destroyed ; and lastly to the faith which was to be kept with the fathers who 
had received the promises. 14. At the intercession of Moses, the Lord relents. He by 
whom all events are foreseen, cannot be taken by surprise or waver in his purpose. 
His indignation at moral evil is simply the burning feeling of its intrinsic demerit, 
and of the requital which justice demands. His repentance is merely his relenting 



EXODUS XXXII. 15-29. 213 

from the rigid enforcement of justice, in accordance with his determined purpose to 
dispense his mercy to retiirning penitents of the tempted and fallen race of man. 

15-29. After this agitating scene, Moses turns hastily to descend from the mount. 
It is carefully noted that the two tables of the testimony were in his hand ; their 
preciousness is indicated by the words of immutable truth which were inscribed on 
both sides of them ; their sacredness by the remembrance that both the forming of 
the tables and the writing upon them was the immediate work of God. 17, 18. 
Joshua has been waiting for Moses apparently outside the cloud of the divine pres- 
ence. He is therefore ignorant of what is going on in the camp. He supposes it at 
first to be the sound of war. After listening further, Moses remarks that it is not the 
cry of the conqueror or the conquered, but of those who are making merry. 19, 20. 
The scene which was presented when they drew nigh to the camp aroused the regret- 
ful indignation of Moses. He felt that the solemn covenant with God had been 
shamefully violated. He cast down the tables containing the holy and gracious con- 
ditions of this covenant, and broke them before their eyes (Deut. 9 : 17).* 

This act expressed with a terrible distinctness the consequence of their infatuated 
crime. He burned the calf, ground it to powder, and strowed it on the water, in the 
brook from which alone they were supplied with drink (Deut. 2 : 21). The stock of 
the idol, being probably of wood, was burned, and, with the gold, reduced to a powder. 
It is not likely that the gold was calcined by a chemical process. The drinking of the 
water mingled with the ashes of their idol was well calculated to remind them both 
that an idol is nothing in the world, and that they must all reap the bitter fruits of 
their common infatuation. 21-24. Moses now expostulates with Aaron for his highly 
inexcusable part in this crime. What hath the people done unto thee? What force had 
they put upon him? What was the necessity under which he had acted ? Aaron's 
defence is that the people were set on evil, and that he yielded to their will. It is 
plain that he was guilty of a weak and timid compliance with what he knew to be 
wrong. And we are informed elsewhere that Moses made special intercession for him 
(Deut. 9 : 20). 25-29. Moses now turns from Aaron to the people, whom he perceives 
to be cast loose from all right feeling and reverence for God, thrown into a state of 
reckless disorder and helpless anarchy, and exposed as an object of contempt to their 
adversaries. His sudden reappearance among them, his stern decisiveness, in marked 
contrast with the yielding feebleness of Aaron, the remembrance of the miracles 
which he was enabled to perform, the significant acts of breaking the tables of cove- 
nant and destroying the symbol of their guilt, had arrested their wild carousal and 
paralyzed their force of resistance. At this critical moment he summons to him all 
that are on the Lord's side, and commands them to gird on the sword, and, without 
respect of kindred, slay every man that stands out in his rebellion. The sons of 
Levi, moved, among other considerations, by a clearer insight and a deeper feeling of 
what is right, and it may be by their relationship to Moses, range themselves by his 
side, take the sword of execution, and three thousand of the people (doubtless the 
turbulent and rebellious) fall by their hands. 29. Fill your hand to-day unto the Lord. 
Take your part in that which is due to the Lord, that every man may be upon or against 
his nearest relative among the rebels against the Most High. In a moment of wide- 

* To understand this act we have to think of more than the holy indignation of God's seiTant. 
We have to remember the circumstances in which the tables were given, and their relation to the 
covenant into which the people voluntarily entered, and which they had now shamefully broken. — 
J. H. 



214 THE IKTERCESSIOK OF MOSES. 

spread treason against the Supreme Governor, to whom allegiance has heen sworn, it 
behooves the few bold and loyal men to strike promptly and resolutely for the cause of 
truth and order. Such faithfulness in the day of treachery wins the blessing from that 
Sovereign whom there is no possibility of either deceiving or resisting. It need not 
seem strange that the Levites met with no effectual resistance in their stern vindication 
of the law. A great number of the people must have disapproved, though in silence, 
of the idolatrous proceeding. Many more were totally indifferent, though they suf- 
fered themselves to be led by the few turbulent and perverse spirits. All these would 
shrink away conscience-stricken before the eye, the hand, and the word of Moses. 
Only a few grovelling souls that lusted after the abominations of the idol-worship in 
Egypt would remain to fall under the swords of those whose ancestor was so prompt 
to avenge the adultery of Shekem (Gen. 34 : 25). 

30-35. Moses turns from the now trembling people with the promise that he would 
interc ede for them with the Lord. It is true that the Lord had relented from his 
fierce wrath. But Moses had meanwhile witnessed the deplorable revolt of the people. 
And though instant perdition was stayed, yet he felt that they were not yet fully par- 
doned or altogether restored to favor. His mode of intercession is brief but forcible. 
He confesses the enormity of their sin, and then says, And now, if thou wilt forgive their 
sm. This is an impassioned form of entreaty. It leaves the consequence unuttered, 
in the urgency and inexpressible earnestness of desire. We may imagine the unspoken 
issue to be, that Moses would count life a blessing. For he immediately adds. And if 
not, blot me now out of thy hook which thou hast written. He feels at the moment that life 
would be insupportable if his people were unforgiven. The book here spoken of is the 
book of life. It was even then the custom of every city in a literary community to 
keep a list of the burgesses. The Israelites were familiar with the custom of keeping a 
register of families (Gen. 5 : 1). The shoterim or " officers" were employed in keep- 
ing these and other registers (vs. 6). Hence Moses uses a familiar figure in speaking 
of God's book (Ps. 69 : 29 ; Dan. 12 : 1). 33, 34. The Lord directs Moses to go and 
lead the people to the land of promise. He promises that Ais an^/eZ shall go before 
him. The angel here spoken of is that mediating angel of whom we read in Gen. 
14 : 7, and Ex. 23 : 20, who possesses the attributes and exercises the prerogatives of 
the Most High. But at the same time he adds. In the day of my visitation I icill visit 
their sin upon them. The fulness of their iniquity was not yet come, though it is fore- 
seen. The intercessor has prevailed, but he has not yet heard the sentence of full re- 
mission. 35. No further account of this plague or of its nature is given. They made 
the calf which Aaron made. Those who cause a thing to be made are chargeable with 
the making of it. 

CHAP. XXXIII. — THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES. 

XXXIII. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, depart and go up hence, thou and the 
people which thou hast brought out of the land of Mizraim, unto the land which I 
sware unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it. 2. And 
I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out the Kenaanite, the Amorite, and 
the Hittite. and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite : 3. Unto a land flowing 
with milk and honey ; for I will not go up in the midst of thee, because thou art a 
stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way. 4. And the people heard this 
evil saying, and mourned ; and no man put on his bravery. 5. And the Lokd said 
unto Moses, say unto the sons of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people ; in one moment, 
■were I to go up in the midst of thee, I should destroy thee : and now put oft' thy 



EXODUS XXXIII. 1-11. 215, 

bravery from thee, and. I shall know what to do nnto thee. 6, And the sons of Israel 
stripped off their braver}^ afar from the mount Horeb. 

7. And Moses took the tent and pitched it for him without the camp, afar off from 
the camp, and called it the tent of meeting : and it came to pass that e\eij one that 
sought the Lord, went out unto the tent of meeting which was without the camp. 
8. And it came to pass that when Moses went out unto the tent all the people rose 
up, and stood every man at his tent door ; and they looked after Moses until he went 
into the tent. 9. And it came to pass as Moses went into the tent the pillar of cloud 
came down, and stood at the door of the tent : and he spake with Moses. 10. And 
all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the tent door : and all the people arose 
and bowed down, every man in his tent door. 11. And the Loed spake unto Moses, 
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend ; and he returned to the camp, and 
his minister Joshua, son of Nun, a young man, moved not out of the tent. H 50. 

12. And Moses said unto the Loed, Behold, thou saj^est unto me. Bring up this 
people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me : and thou hast 
said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in mine eyes. 13. And 
now, if I now have found grace in thine eyes, shew me now thy way, and let me know 
thee, that I may find grace in thine eyes ; and observe that this nation is thy people. 
14. And he said. My presence shall go, and I will give thee rest. 15. i^nd he said 
unto him. If thy presence go not, carry us not up hence. 16. And wherein shall it be 
known indeed that I and th}^ people have found grace in thine ej^es, if not in thj going 
with us ? and I and thy people shall be distinguished from all the people that is upon 
the face of the ground. IT 51. 

17. And the Lord said unto Moses, This thing also that thou hast spoken will I 
do ; for thou Hast found grace in mine eyes, and I know thee by name. 18. And he 
said, Show me now thy glory. 19. And he said, I will make all my goodness to pass 
before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Loed before thee : and I will be gracious 
to whom I will be gracious, and show mercy to whom I will show mercy. 20. And 
he said. Thou canst not see my face ; for no man shall see me and live. 21. And the 
Loed said, Lo, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock, 22. And 
it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the 
rock : and I will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. 23. And I will take away 
my hand, and thou shalt see my back ; but my face shall not be seen. II 52. 

Moses receives a commission to conduct the peojole to the land destined for them, 
with the promise of the divine aid, but without the divine presence amidst them. 
He accordingly removes the tent where the Lord met him out of the camp. He en- 
treats the Lord to go M'ith him and shew him his glory. 

1-6. The commission to Moses again refers to the people " whom thou hast brought 
up out of the land of Mizraim." The Lord does not yet choose to acknowledge them 
as his own. They have been separated by a new transgression, and they have not 
yet returned with penitence or borne any fruit meet for rejDentance. Nevertheless, 
his i^romise stands sure. He will send his angel (32 : 34) before them. But he will 
not go in the midst of them, as he had been hitherto doing and intended to do (25 : 8), 
lest he should consume them in their perversity. 4-6. This unfavorable message 
affects the people with sorrow, and they begin to lay aside all gayety in dress. While 
they are in this state of feeling the Lord sends a message to them by Moses requiring 
them to put off their bravery of apparel, that he may know what to do with them. 
This was a strong affirmation of their perversity. In one moment were I to go up. If I 
were to go into the midst of thee, I must in that moment consume thee. But there 
is a hint of mercy in the following words sufficient to encourage them in their in- 
cipient repentance. Afar from the mount Horeb, retiring from the presence of the Lord 
to their tents. 

7-11. And Moses took the tent. The tent here is not the sanctuary or sacred tent of the 
Lord, which was not yet constructed, nor any temporary dwelling of the Lord, as he only 



216 THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES. 

appeared hitherto in the pillar of cloud and fire, but simply the tent or pavilion of 
Moses, in which he oificia% abode. This he now pitched outside the camj) at some 
distance, and called it the tent of meeting, because, like the tabernacle, it was the place 
where God met with him. The object of this removal was to maintain intercourse 
with the Lord, when he would no longer manifest himself amidst the people who 
had broken the covenant. Moses had not transgressed, and was still in fellowship 
with God. He will avail himself of this privilege to bring about a renewal of f riendlj'- 
relations between God and the people. The separation had also the effect of setting 
before the eyes of the people not only the continued fellowship of Moses with God, 
but also their own present estrangement from him. And now any one who sought 
thB Lord for counsel, judgment, or aid, went out to the tent of meeting. 8. The peo- 
ple stood up with reverent interest to behold Moses going from the camp to the tent 
of meeting to discharge his official functions. 9. When Moses was in the tent the 
pillar of cloud came down and stood at the tent door, to manifest in the most solemn 
manner that God was with Moses. The wondering people bowed down with devout 
reverence when they beheld the supernatural signs of the divine presence. 11. The 
Lord spake with Moses, not by a voice from heaven, but in the j)illar standing at his 
door, /ace to face, as a man speaketh with his friend. He beheld not the divine essence 
(vs. 20), but such a vision of his face as is possible for a man to behold and live. 
When Moses was absent from the tent, Joshua his minister took his place. 

12-16. The mind of Moses is in a state of anxious inquiry, and he now comes be- 
fore the Lord to have all his pressing perplexities solved. Behold. This is a matter 
of intense moment to me. Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people. I feel the weight 
of this charge more than ever, in consequence of this breach of the newly-made and 
willingly-accepted covenant. This has interrupted the happy relation in which the 
people stood to thee. I do not yet tnllj comprehend the new relation in which they 
are to stand. (1.) Thou speakest of an angel who is to go before us And thou hast 
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Who is this angel ? Let me have some 
personal knowledge of him, that my mind maybe at ease. Thou hast said, I know thee 
by name, and thou hast also found grace in mine eyes. Moses is personally known to God 
as one whom he has accepted and appointed to be the leader of his people. He 
therefore humbly prays to be informed how this angel stands to God and to himself. 
Much peace and comfort will result to him from this knowledge. (2.) The way in 
which this people are henceforth to be dealt with he desires to understand. They 
have been heedless and' perverse. They may be so again. He wants to 
penetrate more thoroughly into the great principle on which their salvation rests 
with certainty amidst the uncertainty of their wills. Shew me thy loay of salva- 
tion, of deliverance and guidance for this people to the promised end. And let me 
know thee. For all is in thee— the angel guide, the certain way. That I may find grace 
in thine eyes, present, constant, everlasting grace. (3.) Another word of thine has per- 
plexed me. Thou callest the people mine, whom I have brought up But observe 
that this nation is thy people That it is the plain undeniable truth, far transcending 
my merely ministerial part in their redemption. I beseech thee to look at this, and 
acknowledge it. Such is this wondrous prayer of faith springing up from the heart of 
Moses. 

14-16. A single clear and cheering sentence encourages Moses. My presence shall go, 
1 will give thee rest My face or presence is of the same import as myself. Hence it is 
simply added, I will give thee rest. The angel, then, is the angel of his presence 



EXODUS XXXIV. 217 

(Isa. 63 : 9), in whom is his name (23 : 20), that is, the Lord himself in angelic ofiBce 
^and presence. Moses seizes on the precious word. If thy presence go not, carry us not 
up hence. It is not a mere angel, but Jehovah, the angel of the covenant (Mai. 3:1), 
whom he desires to have with him. This is the only incontestable evidence that 
they had found favor with God. 1 and thy people. He now associates himself with 
the people, and the people with God. The presence of the Lord distinguishes them 
from all the people on the whole earth. 

17-23. The Lord now fully concedes the earnest request of Moses. He will 
go with them. He acknowledges them to be his people. The only other thing 
that remained on the mind of Moses was the " way" of the Lord regarding 
mercy and truth, righteousness and peace. To show mercy and yet do justly ; 
to magnify grace and holiness at the same time ; to bestow a perpetuity of blessing 
on a people wavering now and again into disobedience, was a problem that seemed 
to task the highest intelligence, to transcend the ordinary ways of providence, and 
call into exercise some inner and higher reaches of the Eternal mind. Moved by a 
wish to do his duty with intelligence, Moses ardently desires some insight into this 
profound mysteiy, and he feels that it touches the very centre of the divine nature, 
and involves the sublimest manifestations of his glory. Hence his last and grandest 
petition. Show me now thy glory, is the fitting close to his prevailing intercession. It 
is also granted, as far as man is capable here of receiving such a boon. 19. All my 
goodness. The goodness of God, his moral character, is the perfection of his glory. 
The name of the Lord. The name is the manifest and revealed nature. The Lord is 
Jehovah, the Creator of all things, the Keeper of covenant, the Performer of promise. 
I icill have been gracious to whom I will be gracious. Here is discriminating and determi- 
nate gi'ace. It is discriminating ; some are taken and others left. It is determinate ; 
the chosen are kept from the evil for ever. This sentence is reiterated in other 
words. It solves some of Moses's difficulties. Whatever may befall, a remnant will 
be saved. 20. Thou canst not see my face. This separate sentence is emphatic and 
essential. My face is my direct, immediate, intrinsic self. The essential jpower of 
God is irresistible ; the essential wisdom inscrutable to the creature. The essential 
holiness of the Almighty and All-wise is insupportable to that which is tainted with 
guilt. Hence man shall not see him and live. 21-23. My back is my averted, medi- 
ate, extrinsic self, visible to man in my works, my word, and my personal manifesta- 
tions to my people. The place near the Lord whel'e Moses was to stand, the clift of 
the rock in which he was to be put, the hand which was to cover him while the Lord 
in his glory passed by, and to be taken away that he might see the Lord when his face 
was averted, are the simple elements of a real scene, in which the Lord conveyed to 
the sense and the reason of Moses the deep things of his glorious grace in a manner 
which was exactly adapted to the capacity of the inquirer. Whether the clift of the 
rock was the grotto under the ruined mosque on the top of Jebel Musa it is not 
worth while to inquire. 

CHAP, XXXIV. — THE COVENANT RENEWED. 

XXXIV. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like the 
former : and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the former tables, 
which thou brakest. 2. And be ready in the morning : and come up in the morning 
iinto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount. 3. And 
no man shall come up with thee, nor let any man be seen in all the mount : nor let 



218 THE COVENANT RENEWED. 

the flocks or herds feed before this mount. 4. And he hewed two tables of stone like 
the former, and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went uj) into mount Sinai, 
as the LoKD commanded him : and he took in his hand the two tables of stone, « 

5. And the Lokd came down in the cloud, and stood with him there : and he pro- 
claimed the name of the Loed. 6. And the Lord passed by before his face, and pro- 
claimed, the Lokd, the Lokd God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant 
in mercy and truth : 7. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and trans- 
gression and sin : and he will by no means acquit the guilty, visiting the iniquity of 
the fathers upon the sons and upon the sons' sons, unto the third and to the fourth 
generation. 8. And Moses made haste, and bended toward the earth and bowed 
down. 9. And he said. If now I have found grace in thine eyes, O Lord, let the Lord 
now go in the midst of us : for it is a stiff-necked people ; and thou wilt pardon our 
iniquity and our sin, and take as for thine inheritance. 10. And he said, Lo, I make 
a covenant ; before all thy people I will do marvels, which have not been enacted in 
all the earth nor in all the nations : and all the people among which thou art shall 
see the work of the Lokd ; for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 

11. Observe thou that which I command thee this day : lo, I drive out before thee, 
the Amorite, and the Kenaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, 
and the Jebusite. 12. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the in- 
habitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be a snare in the midst of thee. 13. 
For ye shall destroy their altars, and break their pillars, and cut down their statues. 
14. Por thou shalt bow down to no other God : for the Lokd, whose name is Jealous, 
is a jealous God. 15. Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and 
they go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, 
and thou eat of his sacrifice ; 16. And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and 
their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after 
their gods. 17. Molten gods thou shalt not make thee. 18. The feast of unleavened 
bread shalt thou keep : seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded 
thee in the set time of the month Abib : for in the month Abib thou camest out of 
Mizraim. 19. All that openeth the womb is mine ; and all thy cattle, the firstling of 
ox or sheep, that is a male. 20. And the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a 
lamb ; and if thou redeem it not, then shalt thou break its neck : all the first-born of 
. thy sons thou shalt redeem, and none shall appear before me empty. 21. Six days 
thou shalt labor, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest : in ploughing and in reaping 
time thou shalt rest. 22. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of 
wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year. 23. Three times 
in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord, the Lokd God of Israel. 24. 
For I will dispossess the nations before thee, and enlarge thy border : and no man 
shall desire thy land, when thou goest up to appear before the Lord thy God three 
times in the year. 25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of thy sacrifice with leaven : and 
the sacrifice of the passover feast shall not be left unto the morning. 26. The first of 
the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Loed thy God : 
thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. § 53. 

27. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words : for after the tenor of 
these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28. And he was there 
with the Lokd forty days and forty nights ; he ate not bread nor drank water : and 
he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words. 

29. And it came to j^ass when Moses went down from Mount Sinai, that the two 
tables of testimony were in Moses's hand when he went down from the mount ; and 
Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone when he talked with him. 30. And 
Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, and lo, the skin of his face shone : and 
they were afraid to come nigh him. 31. And Moses called them, and Aaron and all 
the princes in the assembly returned to him : and Moses talked with them. 32. And 
afterward all the sons of Israel came nigh : and he commanded them all that the Lokd 
had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33. And Moses ceased from speaking with 
them, and he put a vail upon his face. 34. And when Moses went in before the Lokd 
to sjoeak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out : and he came out and spake 
unto the sons of Israel that which he was commanded. 35. And the sons of Israel saw 
the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shone : and Moses put the vail upon 
his face again, until he went in to speak with him. 



EXODUS XXXIV. 1-10. 219 

The order is now given to Moses to return to the mount, when the Lord proclaims 
himself the God of mercy and justice, and renews the covenant, with certain injunc- 
tions suitable to the occasion. 

1-4. Heio thee. The former tables were made by God himself. As they had been 
broken by Moses in the outburst of his righteous indignation against the idolatry of 
the people, the Lord directs him to prepare a second set of tables, on which he prom- 
ises to write a second copy of the law. 3. And no man shall come up with thee. On the 
former occasion the elders, with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, accompanied him a certain 
way up the mount, and Joshua, apparently, to the edge of the cloud that was on the 
top. But no man went with him into the cloud, and, as in the case of the lawgiving 
(19 : 12), neither the people nor the cattle were permitted to appear on the mount. 

5-10. When Moses went up with tne new tables the Lord vouchsafes to come down 
and meet with him. In fulfilment of his promise he proclaims before him the name 
of the Lordj) Tlie Lord, the Creator and Covenant-keeper. This name is here rendered 
emphatic by being repeated. God, the Eternal and Almighty. Then follow seven 
significant characteristics, three pairs referring to his mercy, and a single one affirm, 
ing his justice. Merciful and gracious, disposed to relieve suffering and dispense hap- 
piness. Long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth, having long patience and much 
kindness and truthfulness in store for the penitent. The former pair speaks of the 
general tendency, the latter of the long duration and vast plenitude of the divine com- 
passion and constancy. This serves to calm the solicitude of Moses, brooding in 
sadness on the recent perversity of the people. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
iniquity and transgression and sin. This speaks at length not of disposition or its 
amount, but of the certain and final application of mercy and forgiveness to all gen- 
erations of those who seek it with penitence. Sin is moral aberration ; transgression 
involves breach of trust ; and iniquity implies perversity of conduct. The last ap- 
pears the most aggravated ; yet all these forms of sin he may and will forgive the re- 
turning penitent. Yet at the same time the proclamation runs, he will by no means 
acquit. And as a special case of the unalterable principle of rectitude, he visits the 
iniquity of the impenitent, even though it descend to the son from the father (20 : 5). 
In the case of those forgiven, the guilt that cannot be acquitted falls on the head of a 
voluntary and accepted substitute. The perplexity of Moses is now so far solved, 
that he sees mercy secured and perpetuated in some to all generations, while others 
will obstinately refuse it and inevitably perish. He can now repose in tranquil con- 
fidence on the purpose of him who keeps mercy for a thousand generations of them 
that love him (20 : 6). This purpose determines the perpetuity of the church on earth, 
though many from time to time fall away. He does not tell us, he could not convey 
in words, what he saw when the Lord passed by. But he records for our comfort the 
sublime proclamation which he heard, containing the substance of that revelation 
which was then made to him of the glory of God. Filled with wonder and solemn 
awe, he made haste, bent his head and bowed his body in profoundest reverence. 

9, 10. Moses now repeats his already effectual intercession. Lord. He addresses 
God now as the moral Governor and Judge, to whom it pertains to dispense pardon. 
For His a stiff necked people. The /or here applies not to the first clause only, but to 
the whole sentence following. It is a stiff-necked people whom thou wilt pardon and 
make thine inheritance. Therefore, go with us. Oar iniquity and our sin. Moses here 
identifies himself with the people, and entreats forgiveness for the common guilt of 
all. His conduct in this whole transaction is actuated by motives purely benign. 10. 



220 INSTKUCTIONS REPEATED. 

The covenant is now restored. It is to be celebrated by marvels of unparalleled 
power. Enacted, effected by no less than creative power. The whole people will be- 
hold the work of the Lord, which will be terrible in its judgments upon the adversaries. 

11-26. Here a series of admonitions suitable to the occasion 'is repeated and en- 
forced. 11-16. No treaty is to be made with the old inhabitants of the land, as it 
would involve a compliance, or a temptation to comply, with their idolatrous customs 
(23 : 23, 24). The list of nations here given differs from that in 3 : 8, by giving the 
first place to the Amorites, with whom the people are to come first in contact (23 : 23). 
Lest it he a snare in the midst of thee, insinuating a new kind of apostasy from thy own 
God, Their pillars, the monumental stones connected with their idols. Their statues, 
the wooden posts or rudely carved figures of Astarte, the female moon-deity of the 
Kenaanites. Whose name is Jealous. The figure of marriage, applied to the covenant 
relation of God and his people (20 : 5) is now carried a step further. The worship 
of idols or false gods is described as fornication or adultery, a term peculiarly appro- 
priate to rites that were grossly licentious in themselves, as well as acts of high 
treason against the only true God. Intermarriage v/ith these votaries of idolatry and 
uncleanness is expressly forbidden. 

17-26. Molten gods (20 : 23) are again emphatically prohibited. The feast of un- 
leavened bread (12), the sanctification of the first-born (13), the observance of the 
Sabbath (16), the other annual festivals (23 : 10-19) are then called to mind, and their 
observance reinforced. As they are connected with leading events in the national 
history, and are eminently characteristic of the national worship, they are well fitted 
to awaken the gratitude and keep alive the faith of the ransomed people. 24. A 
promise is given that their lands will not be coveted or seized when they are gone to 
appear at the great festivals before the Lord. 25, 26. Certain minute but significant 
directions are here reiterated. Leaven, as the emblem of moral corruption, is to be 
absent from their offerings. The passover lamb, as the type of atonement, is to be 
all necessary, as well as all-sufficient for its immediate use. The first of the first- 
fruits is to be dedicated to the Lord, as the beginning and earnest of all that we have. 
The mother' s milk, that which is given with maternal kindness for nourishment, is 
not to be coldly turned into a means of destruction. These four secondary regula- 
tions, constantly whispering in our ears that the service of God must be sincere, 
prompt, entire, and tender, are Avell calculated to cultivate in the soul a growing abhor- 
rence of idolatry, with all its inherent and attendant abominations. 

27, 28. Write thou these words, evidently the record of this interview and all that was 
said on the occasion ; as he wrote the book of the original covenant (24 : 4-7). These 
are to be 6n record, as the special conditions of the civil part of the covenant. Forty 
days and forty nights. The descendants of Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth of the first 
month (12). On the first of the third month (19 : 1) they reached the Wilderness of 
Sinai, and probably on the sixth the law was proclaimed on the mount. On the 
seventh the covenant was ratified, and Moses and the elders ascended some part of the 
mount (24 : 4). The seventh day after, apparently, and in that case on the fourteenth 
of the third month, Moses was called and entered into the cloud. Forty days after, 
or on the twenty-third of the fourth month, he descends to witness the festival in 
honor of the golden calf. The Talmud, however, places this act of apostasy on the 
17th of Tammuz, and therein agrees with many interpreters, who include the six days 
during which Moses waited before he was summoned into the cloud surrounding the 
divine presence in the forty days of his abode on the mount. On the day after 



EXODUS xxxiY. 29-35. 221 

(32 : 30) Moses makes intercession for the people, removes tlie official tent from the 
camp, and receives a favorable answer from the Lord. The next day, apparently 
(34 : 2), is the first of the second forty days spent on the mount. Allowing twenty- 
nine days and thirty days for the next two months, we arrive at the fifth of the sixth 
month, as the day on which he may have descended the second time. Here, again, 
Jewish tradition assumes that he ascended on the first of the sixth month and came 
down on the tenth of the seventh, which is the day of atonement. But there seems 
to be no reason for allowing an interval of at least thirtj^-six days to elapse between 
the first descent and the second ascent. Nor is there anything suitable in the people 
afflicting their souls on the day of Moses's return from the mount ; and there is cer- 
tainly no allusion to the day of atonement in the narrative. And further, only five 
months and a half are left for the construction of the tabernacle, which was finished 
within the first year. Josephus assigns seven months for this undertaking, which is 
a short enough period. If Moses came down on the fifth of the sixth month, we have 
nearly seven months, and if his descent was six days earlier, or on the last day of the 
fifth month, we have precisely seven months for the construction of the tabernacle 
and all its appurtenances. And he icrote. From the first verse we learn that it was 
God himself who wrote th6 ten words on the two tables which Moses had prepared 
(Deut. 10 : 4). 

29-35. The glory on the face of Moses. Moses knew not. He was not conscious of 
this appearance in himself, which was obvious to others. That the skin of Ms face shone, 
sent forth rays of light. The original word signifies to spring forth as horns, and 
hence the Vulgate has esse cornutam, and the painters have drawn Moses with horns. 
The Lord had passed by him. He had even stood with him and talked with him. So 
much of his glory had shone upon the senses and the face of Moses as mortal man was 
able to bear. 30. This extraordinary lustre struck Aaron and the people with wonder 
and apprehension. They were afraid to come nigh him, as one who still bore the con- 
spicuous marks of his long converse with God. 31, 32. When he called them, however, 
Aaron and the princes of the assembly approached, and he conversed with them. The 
people then drew nigh, and he gave them in command all that the Lord had communi- 
cated to him. 33-35. When his discourse was finished /ie_p^'^« "^'^^^ on /^is/oce. When 
his public and official part was performed, he vails the dazzling lustre of his face, not 
only in modest reserve, but also for the convenience and comfort of private inter- 
course. When, however, he went in before the Lord, he withdrew the vail until he 
had received his commands and delivered them to the people. Hence it was his cus- 
tom to resume the vail until he went in to speak with the Lord. The place of com- 
munication was, we may suppose, the separate tent of meeting, until the tabernacle 
was erected. The awe-struck multitude had here a conspicuous sign before their eyes 
that Moses was the veritable serv^ant of the Most High God, the prime minister of the 
old covenant. The shrinking of their gaze from this borrowed splendor demonstrated 
to them that they were not yet prepared for the higher manifestations of the divine 
glory itself. The vail on the face of Moses, like the vail before the mercy-seat, taught 
them that the present economy was adapted to the weakness of their spiritual vision ; 
while so much of the brightness shone through as to satisfy their present needs and 
capacities, and give them a foreglance and earnest of what awaited them in the ad- 
vancing stages of their spiritual train ng (2 Cor. 3 : 7-18). 

Thus ends this sudden outbreak of idolatry and sad interruption of spiritual pros- 
perity in a new and unexpected display of the divine mercy vouchsafed on the in- 



222 PREPARATIOiq"S FOR MAKIKG THE TABERITACLE. 

tercession of Moses to the chastened and repentant people. The breach being 
healed, and the covenant restored with even additional splendor, the construction of 
the tabernacle will now proceed.* 



XV. THE TABERNACLE MADE AND SET UP.— Ex. 35-40. 

CHAP. XXXV. — PKEPARATIONS FOR MAKING THE TABERNACLE. 

22. nn ^^ooTc, clasx), "I'ing ; used for female ornament, and for an instrmnent in 
the nose of a bull for controlling it. ciJ ^ ^^-^ or earring (Gen. 24 : 47 ; 35 : 4) ; 
r. hind or lace. ny^JO ^ Qnger-7'ing ; r. dip. 112^3 little hall, dead, necklace of 
heads. 

XXXV. 1. And Moses gathered all the assembly of the sons of Israel, and said 
unto them, These are the words which the Lobd commanded us to do. 2. Six days 
shall work be done, and on the seventh day shall be for you a holy Sabbath of rest to 
the LoED : whosoever doeth work therein shall die. 3. Y.e shall not kindle a tire in 
all your dwellings on the Sabbath day. ^ 54. 

4. And Moses spake unto all the assembly of the sons of Israel, saying, This is the 
word which the Lord hath commanded, saying, 5. Take from among you an offering 
unto the Lord ; whosoever is willing of heart shall bring it, an offering of the Lord : 
gold and silver and brass ; 6. And blue and purple and crimson ; and fine linen and 
goats' hair ; 7. And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins ; and shittah wood ; 8. 
And oil for the light ; and spices for the anointing oil, and for the incense of per- 
fumes ; 9. And onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breast- 
plate. 10. And every one wise of heart among you shall come and make all that the 
Lord hath commanded. 11. The tabernacle, its tent and its covering; its taches 
and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets ; 12. The ark and its staves,^ the 
mercy-seat, and the vail of covering ; 13. The table and its staves, and all its vessels, 
and the shew-bread ; 14. And the candlestick for the light, and its vessels 
and its lamps, and the oil for the lights ; 15. And the altar of incense and its staves, 
and the anointing oil and the incense of perfumes, and the cover for the door at the 
entrance of the tabernacle ; 16. The altar of burnt-offering and the brazen grate for 
it, its staves and all its vessels ; the laver and its stand ; 17. The hangings of the 
court, its pillars and their sockets, and the cover for the door of the court ; 18. The 
pins of the tabernacle and the pins of the court and their cords ; 19. The garments 
of office to minister in the sanctuary, the lioly garments for Aaron the priest, and 
the garments of his sons to serve as priests. 

20. And all the assembly of the sons of Israel went forth from the presence of Moses. 
21. And they came, every man whom his heart stirred up ; and every one whom his 
spirit made willing brought the Lord's offering for the work of the tent of meeting 
and for all its service and for the holy garments. 22. And they came the men with 
the women : all the willing of heart brought clasps and ear-rings and rings and neck- 
laces, all jewels of gold ; and every man made a wave-offering of gold unto the Lord. 

23. And every man with whom was found blue and purple and crimson, and fine 
linen and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, brought them. 

24. Every one making an offering of silver and brass brought the offering of the 
Lord : and every one with whom was found shittah wood for any work of the service 
brought it. 25. And every woman wise of heart span with her hands : and they 

* The lesson of this tran'^action cannot be too mnoh emphasizerl. The sin of the people inter- 
rupted the con-trnction of the tabernacle. So worldliness, erroneous views of God, attempts to 
accommodate worship and service to the world's ideas, hinder the progress of God's spiritual building. 
A living spiritual church will be, commonly, a growing church. A church pleasing itself, and not 
Christ, grieves the Head, and drives away the quickening Spirit.— J. H. 



EXODUS XXXV. 1-35. 223 

brought yarn, blue and purple and crimson, and fine Lncn. 26. And all tbe V\-omen 
whose heart stirred them up with wisdom sjDan the goats' hair. 27. And the rulers 
brought onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastplate ; 
28. And spice and oil, for the light and for the anointing oil and for the incense of 
perfumes. 29. Every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for 
all the work which the Lokd commanded to do by the hand of Moses, the sons of 
Israel brought a free-will offeiing unto the Loed. *][ 55. 

30. And Moses said unto the sons of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name 
Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31. And filled him with the 
spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all workman- 
ship ; 32. And to devise designs, to work in gold and in silver and in brass ; 33. And 
in cutting of stone for setting and in carving of wood, to make every work of design. 
34. And he hath put it in his heart to teach, both in him and in Aholiab, son of 
Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan. 35. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart to do 
all the work of the artificer, and the designer, and the embroiderer in blue and in 
purple and in crimson and in fine linen, and of the weaver ; who do every work and 
devise designs. 

Of the remaining six chapters, the first records the offerings and other preparations 
for the tabernacle ; the next four, the progi-ess from the beginning to the end of the 
work ; and the last, the actual erection and inauguration of the house of God. There 
is little to remark on these chapters, as they are mainly a detail of the execution of 
that of which the plan is contained in chaps. 25-31. 

1-3. A preliminary injunction concerning the Sabbath. Moses begins where the 
directions concerning the sanctuary close (31 : 12-17). The special precept of this 
passage is, '" Ye shall not kindle a fire in all your dwellings on the Sabbath day." This 
precludes smith-work and cooking. Fo^ domestic comfort, fire was not a thing of 
necessity or mercy in the Peninsula of Sinai. In colder regions it is otherwise ; 
and there the law of necessity or mercy regulates the observance of the Sabbath.* 

4-19. The materials required of the people, and the articles to be made for the sanc- 
tuary are here specified. The former are repeated from 25 : 1-7. 10. The wise of heart 
are those who possess the natural gift or the acquired training for the various 
mechanical arts. 11-19, The whole apparatus of the sanctuary is here enumerated 
from the previous directions (25 : 30). The garments of office are repeated from 
31 : 10. 

20-29. The contribution of the people. The Lord's offering (rHOilH' 25 : 2), that 
which is lifted up in token of dedication to the Lord (29 : 24, 27). 22. The man with 
the tcoman. Both sexes join in this free-will offering. The jewels of gold are appar- 
ently the offerings of the women. Every man made a wave-offering. While each 
female presented her own gold triifket of whatever kind, the men seem to have made 
a joint contribution of gold. This may account for the phrase ' ' made a wave -off ering' ' 
(29 : 24). 25. Span with her hands. This was a feminine employment. Blue and 
purple and crimson. This implies that the dyeing preceded the spinning. As the fine 
linen is distinguished from the colored stuffs, it is probable that they were of wool 
(Num. 19 : 6 ; Heb. 9 : 19). 29. The sons of Israel. This verse proves that the phrase 
may extend, when the occasion requires, to the female as well as the male descendants 
of Israel. 

30-35. The calling of Bezalel and Aholiab is announced to the people (31 : 1-6). 

* According to Keil and Knobel, the prohihition of a fire in the dwellings of the people had 
immediate relation to the time of the bniklinq; of the sanctuary. Others, like our author, find a 
reason for the introduction of the matter here, in the connection between Sabbath rest and stated 
worship.— J. H. 



224 THE TABERNACLE MADE. 



CHAP, XXXVI. — THE TABERNACLE MADE. 

XXXVI. 1. And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise-liearted man in whom the 
Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to do every work of the service of 
the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord hath commanded. 2. And 
Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the 
Lord had put wisdom, every one whom his heart stirred up to draw near to the work 
to do it. 3. And they received of Moses all the offering which the sons of Israel had 
brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary to do it : and they brought unto 
him yet a free offering from morning to morning. 4. Then came all the v/ise men 
that were doing the work of the sanctuarj^ every man from his work which he was 
doing. 5. And they spake unto Moses, saying. The people are bringing much more 
than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. 
6. And Moses commanded, and they issued a proclamation in the camp, saying, Let 
not man or woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. And the 
people were restrained from bringing. 7. And their work was sufficient for all the 
work to make it, and more. § 77. 

8. And all the wise of heart among them that were doing the work of the tabernacle 
made ten curtains of twined fine linen, and blue and purple and crimson : with cher- 
ubim of cunning work made he them. 9. The length of one curtain was eight and 
twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits : the curtains had all one 
measure. 10. And he coupled five curtains one unto another ; and five curtains he 
coupled one unto another. 11. And he made loops of blue on the selvedge of the first 
curtain at the end in" the coupling : so he made in the selvedge of the last curtain 
in the second coupling. 12. Fifty loops made he in the first curtain ; and fifty loops 
made he in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling ; the loops match- 
ing one another. 13. And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one 
to another with the taches ; and the taberiM,cle became one. *|[ 56. 

14. And he made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle ; eleven cur- 
tains made he them. 15, The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits 
the breadth of one curtain ; the eleven curtains had one measure. 16. And he 
coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17. And he 
made fifty loops on the selvedge of the last curtain in the coupling ; and fifty loops 
made he on the selvedge of the curtain in the second couiDling. 18. And he made 
fifty taches of brass to couple the tent that it might be one. 19. And he made a cov- 
ering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins from above. 
§ 78. 

20. And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittah wood standing up. 21. Ten 
cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of one board. 
22. Two tenons were to one board, set alike one to another : thus he made for all the 
boards of the tabernacle. 23. And he made the boards for the tabernacle, twenty 
boards on the south side southward. 24. And tortj sockets of silver made he under 
the twenty boards ; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets 
under another board for its two tenons. 25. And^or the other side of the tabernacle 
northward he made twenty boards. 26. And their forty sockets of silver ; two sockets 
under one board, and two sockets under another board. 27. And for the rear of the 
tabernacle westward he made six boards. 28. And two boards made he for the corners 
of the tabernacle in the rear. 29. And they were doubled beneath, and together they 
were complete at the top for the one ring ; thiis he did for the two of them for the 
two corners. 30. And there were eight boards, and their sockets of silver were six- 
teen sockets ; two sockets each under the one board. 31. And he made bars of 
shittah wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 32. And five bars 
for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the 
tabernacle to the rear westward. 33. And he made the middle bar to shoot in the 
middle of the boards from end to end. 34. And he overlaid the boards with gold, and 
made their rings of gold, to be places for the bars : and he overlaid the bars with gold. 

35. And he made the vail of blue and purple and crimson, and tv.aned fine linen : 
of cunning work made he it, with cherubim. 36. And he made for it four pillars of 
shittah, and overlaid them with gold, and their hooks were of gold : and he cast for 



EXODUS XXXVII. 225 

them fonr sockets of silver. 37. And lie made a cover for the door of the tent of blue 
and purple and crimson, and twined fine linen, wrought with needlework. 38. And 
its five pillars and their hooks, and he overlaid their chapiters and their rods with 
gold ; and their five sockets were of brass. ^ 57. ' 

The commencement of the work and the construction of the tabernacle are recorded 
in this chapter, which after the first section corresponds with chapter 26. 

1-7. The materials for the work handed over to the workmen. And Bezalel . . . 
shall do (nii^yi)- ^^^^ verse is properly the close of the address of Moses to the 
people, and should have stood at the end of the previous chapter. 2. He now ad- 
dresses Bezalel, Aholiab, and their men. 3-7. The people bring enough, and more 
than, enough for the work, until they are required to desist. As the spinning and 
weaving must have begun almost simultaneously with the labors of the other work- 
men, they were bringing in wrought materials for some months after the works began. 

8-38. The construction of the tabernacle is here minutely reported. The full detail 
into which the sacred writer enters indicates the paramount importance attached to 
the work. The narrative begins with the tabernacle itself, which is the largest piece 
of the work. But we may suppose that other sets of workmen were engaged on the 
furniture, the court, and the priestly dresses. It was necessary also that the taber- 
nacle should be ready for the sacred utensils as soon as they were prepared. The 
sections of this chapter after the first correspond nearly with those of chap. 26, 

CHAP. XXXVII. — THE FTmNITURE IN THE TABERNACLE. 

XXXVII. 1. And Bezalel made the ark of shittah wood ; two cubits and a half the 
length of it, a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of 
it. 2. And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without ; and made for it a crown 
of gold round about. 3. And he cast for it four rings of gold upon its four feet : and 
two rings were on the one side of it, and two rings on the other §ide of it. 4. And he 
made staves of shittah wood, and overlaid them with gold. 5. And he put 
the staves in the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 6. And he made a 
mercy-seat of pure gold ; two cubits and a half the length of it, and a cubit and a half 
the breadth of it. 7. And he made two cherubim of gold ; of beaten work made he 
them, on the two ends of the mercy-seat. 8. One cherub on the one end, and another 
cherub on the other end ; out of the mercy-seat made he the cherubim on its two, 
ends. 9. And the cherubim were spreading out two wings above, covering the mercy-*, 
seat with their wings, and their faces each to the other ; toward the mercy-seat "we.re 
the faces of the cherubim. ^ 58. 

10. And he made the table of shittah wood ; two cubits the length of it, ajid a Qubit;; 
the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it. 11. And he overlaid ij; with, 
pure gold, and made for it a crown of gold round about. 12, And he mad^ for. it; a. 
border of a hand breadth round about, and made a crown of gold for the border; ther,eof 
round about. 13. And he cast for it four rings of gold ; and put the rings on the four 
corners of its four feet. 14. Over against the border were the rings, the places for the 
staves to bear the table. 15. And he made the staves of shittah wood, and overlaid 
them with gold, to bear the table. 16. And he made the vessels which aredipon tho 
table, its dishes, and its bowls, and its flagons, and its cups, to pour out withal, of 
pure gold. % 59. 

17. And he made the candlestick of pure gold : of beaten work made he the candle- 
stick ; its block and its shaft, its cups, its knops, and its flowers, were of the same, 
18, And six branches coming out of its sides ; three branches of the candlestick out 
of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side : 19, Three 
almond-shaped cups in one branch, a knop and a flower ; and three almond-shaped 
cups in another branch, a knop and a flower : so for the six branches coming out of 



226 THE COURT AND ITS FUEKITURE. 

the candlestick. 20. And in the candlestick were four almond-shaped cups, its knops 
and its flowers. 21. And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under 
two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, for the six 
branches coming out of it. 22. Their knops and their branches were of the same ; all 
of it was one beaten piece of pure gold. 23. And he made its seven lamps, and its 
snuffers and its snuff- dishes of pure gold. 24. Of a talent of pure gold made he it and 
all its vessels. % 60. 

25. And he made the altar of incense of shittah wood ; a cubit the length of it, and 
a cubit the breadth of it, being square, and two cubits the height of it ; its horns were 
of the same. 26. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about 
and its horns ; and he made for it a crown of gold round about. 27. And two rings of 
gold made he for it under the crown of it, on the two flanks thereof, on the two sides 
of it, for places for the staves to bear it withal. 28. And he made the staves of shittah 
wood, and overlaid them with gold. 29. And he made the holy anointing oil, and the 
pure incense of perfumes, the work of the perfumer. § 79. 

This chapter records the making of the ark and mercy-seat, the table, the candle- 
stick, and the altar of incense. These are all the internal furniture of the tabernacle. 
It corresponds to chapter 25, wanting the first nine verses, and to vs. 1-5, and 22-25 
of chapter 30. The last section is here summed up in a single verse. 

3. And he cast . . .. upon its four feet. The sense is pregnant here. It is un- 
derstood that the rings, when cast, are put upon the feet of the ark. So in 38 : 5. 



CHAP. XXXVIII. — THE COURT AND ITS FURNITURE. 

XXXVni. 1. And he made the altar of burnt-offering of shittah wood ; five cubits 
the length of it, and five cubits the breadth of it, being square, and three cubits the 
height of it. 2. And he made the horns of it on the four corners thereof, the horns 
thereof of the same ; and he overlaid it with brass. 3. And he made all the vessels of 
the altar, the boxes, and the shovels, and the basins, and the flesh-hooks, and the fire- 
pans ; all its vessels made he of brass, 4, And he made for the altar a grate of net- 
work of brass, under its border beneath unto the half of it, 5. And he cast four rings 
in the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves, 6. And he made 
the staves of shittah wood, and overlaid them with brass, 7, And he put the staves in 
the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal : hollow, of boards, made he it, § 80. 

8. And he made the laver of brass, and its stand of brass, of the mirrors of the 
women who attended at the door of the tent of meeting. § 81, 

9. And he made the court ; for the south side southward, the hanging of the court 
of fine linen twined a hundred cubits. 10. Their pillars twenty, and their sockets of 
brass twenty ; the hooks of the pillars and their rods of silver. 11. And for the north 
side a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty and their sockets of brass twenty ; the 
hooks of the pillars and their rods of silver. 12. And for the west side the hangings 
were fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten ; the hooks of the pillars and 
their rods of silver, 13, And for the east side, eastward, fifty cubits, 14, The hang- 
ings fifteen cubits for the wing ; their pillars three and their sockets three. 15. And 
for the other wing on this side, and on that side of the court gate, the hangings were 
fifteen cubits ; their pillars three and their sockets three, 16, All the hangings of the 
court round about were of fine linen twined. 17. And the sockets for the pillars were 
of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their rods of silver, and the overlaying of their 
chapiters of silver : and all the pillars of the court were joined with rods of silver, 18. 
And the covering of the court gate was wrought with needlework of blue and purple 
and crimson, and fine linen twined : and twenty cubits was the length, and the height 
in the breadth five cubits, matching the hangings of the court, 19. And their pillars 
four, and their sockets of brass four ; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their 
chapiters and their rods of silver. 20. And all the pins for the tabernacle and for the 
ooart round about were of brass. 23, § § § 82, 

21. These are the accounts of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, that 



EXODUS XXXIX. 227 

was counted at the word of Moses, the service of the Levites by the hand of Ithamar, 
son of Aaron the priest. 22. And Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hnr, of the tribe of Ju- 
dah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses. 23. And with him Ahoiiab, son of 
Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, an artificer and designer, and an embroiderer in blue 
and in purple and in crimson and in fine linen. 24. All the gold that was used for the 
work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was nine and 
twenty talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 
25. And the silver of those who were numbered of the assembly was a hundred tal- 
ents, and a thousand and seven hundred and five and seventy shekels, by the shekel 
of the sanctuary. 26. A beka for the poll, the half shekel by the shekel of the sanc- 
tuary for every one passing into the numbered from twenty years old and upward, 
for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 27. 
And the hundred talents of silver went for casting the sockets of the sanc- 
tuary and the sockets of the vail ; a hundred sockets for a hundred talents, a 
talent for a socket. 28. And of the thousand and seven hundred and five and sev- 
enty shekels made he hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and rodded 
them. 29. And the brass of the wave-offering was seventy talents and two thousand 
and four hundred shekels. 30. And with it he made the sockets for the door of the 
tent of meeting, and the brazen altar and the brazen grate for it, and all the vessels ol 
the altar ; 31. And the sockets of the court round about and the sockets of the court 
gate ; and all the pins of the tabernacle and all the pins of the court round about. 

This chapter describes the construction of the altar of burnt-offering, the laver and 
the court in which they were placed, and ends with an account of the metals em- 
ployed in the work. 

1-20 correspond with chapter 27 : 1-8, 30 : 18, and 27 : 9-18. 

21-31. This passage refers to 30 : 11-16, and 27 : 19. It is an account of the metals 
required for the sanctuary. That was counted refers directly to the tabernacle, concern- 
ing which the account was kept. By the hand of Moses, at his order. The service of. ' 
This reckoning was the business of the Levites under the superintendence of Ithamar. 
25-26. The silver of those that were nwribered of the assembly. The order given in 
30 : 11-16, including the payment of a beka for every male from twenty years old and 
upward, had been so far executed, probably on the day of atonement. The sum of the 
class numbered is six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. This was 
an important part of the service of the Levites (vs. 21). This census was completed 
by the examination of the documents and the drawing up of an authenticated register 
about half a year after, of which we have an account in the first chapters of Numbers. 
27, 28. From these verses it appears that a talent was equal to 3000 shekels. Keck- 
oning the shekel at 220 grains, we find that the gold amounts to nearly 3350 pounds 
troy weight, the silver to nearly 11,526 pounds, and the brass to nearly 8112 pounds. 

The Israelites had left Egj^Dt the year in which they made this contribution for the 
construction of the tabernacle. Though many of them were employed in servile la- 
bors, yet the people as a whole must have been possessed of considerable wealth. To 
this the Egyptians made a considerable accession at their departure. The sum here 
contributed is moderate in comparison with the enormous treasures amassed by the 
Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Arabians, and the Egyptians themselves. 

CHAP. XXXIX. — THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS. 

XXXIX. 1. And of the blue and the purple and the crimson they made garments of 
office to minister in the sanctuary : and they made the holy garments for Aaron, as 
the Lord commanded Moses. IT 61. 

2. And he made the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and crimson, and fine linen 
twined. 3. And they beat out thin plates of gold, and cut threads to work in amid 



228 THE PEIESTLY GARMENTS. 

tlie blue and tlie purple and the crimson, and the fine linen twined, with cunning 
work. 4. Shoulder-straps made they for it, joining it ; at the two edges thereof was 
it joined. 5. And the belt for fastening it, that was upon it, was of the same, ac- 
cording to the work thereof ; gold, blue and purple and crimson, and fine linen ; as 
the Lord commanded Moses. § 83. 

6. And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, engraven, like the en- 
gravings of a signet, with the names of the sons of Israel. 7. And he put them on 
the shoulders of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the sons of Israel ; as the 
LoED commanded Moses. IT 62. 

8. And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod ; of 
gold, blue and purple and crimson, and twined fine linen. . 9. It was square ; double 
made they the breastplate ; a span its length, and a span its breadth, being doubled. 
10. And they set in it four rows of stone, a row of sardius, topaz, and emerald, the 
first row. 11. And the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond. 12. 
And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 13. And the fourth row a 
chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper, inclosed in ouches of gold in their settings. 14. 
And the stones were engraven with the names of the sons of Israel ; these are twelve, 
according to their names, with the engravings of a signet, each with its name, for the 
twelve tribes. 15. And they made on the breastplate attaching chains of wreathen 
work, of pure gold. 16. And they made two ouches of gold, and two rings of gold, 
and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 17. And they put the two 
cords of gold upon the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 18. And the two 
ends of the two cords they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulders 
of the ephod in front of it. 19. And they made two rings of gold, and put them on 
the two ends of the breastplate, on the border of it which was on the further side of 
the ephod inward. 20. And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two 
shoulder-straps of the ephod beneath in the front of it, over against the joining 
thereof, above the belt of the ephod. 21 And they bound the breastplate by its rings 
unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue to be upon the belt of the ephod, that 
the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod ; as the Lord commanded Moses. IT 63. 

22. And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 23. And the 
hole of the robe was in the midst of it, as the hole of a habergeon ; a binding was on 
the hole of it around, that it might not be rent. 24. And they made upon the hem of 
the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and crimson, twined. 25. And they made 
bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates, upon the hem of the robe 
around between the jjomegranates. 26. A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pome- 
granate, on the hem of the robe around, to minister therein ; as the Loed commanded 
Moses, § 84. 

27. And they made the coats of fine linen, of woven work, for Aaron and for his 
sons ; 28. And the mitre of fine linen, and the goodly bonnets of fine linen, and the 
ilinen bjeeches of fine linen twined ; 29. And the girdle of fine linen twined, and 
(blue and purple and crimson, of needlework ; as the Loed commanded Moses. § 85. 

•30. And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a 
writing, like the engravings of a signet. Holiness to the Loed. 31. And they put 
upon it a lace of blue to fasten it on the mitre above ; as the Loed commanded 
Moses. §86. 

32. Then was finished all the service of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting : and 
the sons of Israel .did according to all that the Loed commanded Moses, so did 
they. H 64. 

33. And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent, and all its vessels ; its 
taclife.3, its boards, its bars, and its pillars and its sockets ; 34. And the covering of 
rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of covering ; 
35, The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy-seat ; 36. The 
table, all its vessels, and the shew-bread ; 37. The pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, 
the lamps of the ordering, and all its vessels, and the oil for the light ; 38. And the 
altar of gold, and the anointing oil, and the incense of perfumes, and the cover for 
the tent door ; 39. The altar of brass, and its grate of brass, its staves and all its ves- 
sels, the laver and its stand ; 40. The hangings of the court, its pillars and its sock- 
ets, and the cover for the court gate, its cords and its pins ; and all the vessels of the 
service of the tabernacle for the tent of meeting : 41. The garments of office to minis- 



EXODUS XL. 229 

ter in the sanctuary ; the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his 
sons to serve as priests therein. 42. According to all that the Loed commanded 
Moses, so did the sons of Israel all the service. 43. And Moses saw all the work, 
and, lo, they had done it as the Lokd had commanded, so had they done : and Moses 
blessed them. IT 65. 

This chajDter contains the making of the priestly attire, the ephod, the breastplate, 
the robe, the coats, the mitre and bonnet, the girdle, and the plate of the holy 
crown ; and the presenting of the whole to Moses for inspection and approval. 

1-32. The articles of dress are here, no doubt, arranged in the order of manu- 
facture. 

33^3. The finished articles are enumerated in detail. 36, And the shew-hread. This 
is included here as an accompaniment of the table, for which all the requisite materi- 
als were provided. 37. So " the oil for the light" was ready. 38. The anointing oil 
and the incense of perfumes had also been compounded by the perfumer. 43. This 
verse reminds us of Gen. 1 : 31. And Moses blessed them, in token of his approval of 
the manner in which they had executed the work. 

CHAP. XL. — THE TABERNACLE SET UP. 

XL. 1, And the Loed spake unto Moses, saying, 2. On the first day of the first 
month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3. And thou shalt put 
therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4. And thou shalt 
bring in the table and arrange the order thereof ; and thou shalt bring in the candle- 
stick and set up the lamps thereof. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for incense 
before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 6. 
And thou shalt set the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the 
tent of meeting. 7. And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of meeting and the 
altar, and put water therein. 8. And thou shalt set up the court around, and put 
the cover at the court gate. 9. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the 
tabernacle and all that is therein ; and shalt hallow it and all its vessels, and it 
shall be holy. 10. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt-offering and all its ves- 
sels ; and thou shalt hallow the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. 11. And thou 
shalt anoint the laver and its stand, and hallow it. 12. And thou shalt bring Aaron 
and his sons unto the door of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. 13. 
And thou shalt clothe Aaron with the holy garments ; and shalt anoint him and hal- 
low him, and he shall serve me as ^Driest. 14. And thou shalt bring his sons and 
clothe them with coats ; 15. And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their 
father, and they shall serve me as priests ; and their anointing shall be to them a per- 
petual priesthood for their generations. 16. And Moses did according to all that the 
Loed commanded him, so did he. § 87. 

17. And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of 
the month, that the tabernacle was set up. 18. And Moses set up the tabernacle, and 
fastened its sockets, and set on the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and 
set up its pillars. 19. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the cover- 
ing of the tent upon it above ; as the Lord commanded Moses. § 88. 

20. And he took and put the testimony in the ark, and set the staves on the ark ; 
and put the mercy-seat upon the ark above. 21. And he brought the ark into the 
tabernacle, and put on the vail of covering, and covered the ark of testimony ; as the 
Loed commanded Moses. § 89. 

22. And he set the table in the tent of meeting on the side of the tabernacle north- 
ward, without the vail. 23. And he laid in order upon it the bread before the Lord ; 
as the Loed commanded Moses. § 90. 

24. And he set the candlestick in the tent of meeting over against the table, on the 
side of the tabernacle southward. 25. And he set up the lamps before the Loed ; as 
the Loed commanded Moses. § 91. 



230 THE TABERKACLE SET UP. 

26. And he set the altar of gold in the tent of meeting before the vail ; 27. And 
burnt on it incense of perfumes ; as the Lord commanded Moses. § 92. 

28. And he put the cover of the door on the tabernacle. 29. And the altar of 
burnt-offering set he at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting ; and offered 
upon it the burnt-offering and the meat-offering ; as the Lord commanded Moses. § 93. 

30. And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put 
water therein for washing. 31. And Moses and Aaron and his sons shall wash their 
hands and their feet thereout ; 32. When they go into the tent of meeting, and when 
they draw near to the altar, they wash ; as the Lord commanded Moses. § 94. 

33. And he set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar ; and put on the 
cover of the court gate : and Moses finished the work. II 56. 

34. And the cloud covered the tent of meeting ; and the glory of the Lord filled the 
tabernacle. 35. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the 
cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36. And when 
the cloud was lifted up from over the tabernacle the sons of Israel set out in all their 
journeys. 37. And if the cloud was not lifted up, then they did not set out till the 
day, when it was lifted up. 38. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle 
by day, and the fire was on it by night, in the eyes of all the house of Israel in aU 
their journeys. 

This chapter contains the setting up of the tabernacle, including the commence- 
ment of the prescribed services, and the manifestation of the divine presence and 
grace in the sanctuary. 

1-16. The command is issued for the rearing of the tabernacle, and the anointing 
of it, and all its vessels and ministers. 9-15. This anointing is to signify thfe hallow- 
ing or setting of them apart to a holy use. Everything here has been tainted with 
the presence of sin. The sinner must be sanctified in order to be received again into 
the fellowship of his Maker. The great agent of sanctiflcation is the Holy Spirit. 
His purifying work is here typified by the anointing with oil. 

17-22. We have then an orderly detail of the execution of the first part of this com- 
mand. 17-19. The date of the rearing of the tabernacle is the first day of the first 
month of the second year (see on 34 : 28). 20, 21. After the rearing of the taber- 
nacle, the testimony, that is, the two tables of stone with the ten commandments 
engraven on them, is placed in the ark, and the ark with the mercy-seat in the most 
holy place. 22, 23. The table is placed on the north side of the holy place, probably at 
the middle of the wall. The shew-bread is set in order upon it. 24, 25. The candle- 
stick occupies the corresponding place on the south side. Its lamps are set on. 26, 
27. The altar of gold is placed before the vail at the middle points. The incense is 
kindled upon it. 28, 29 The altar of brass in the middle between the two sides, say 
twenty-five feet from the gate of the court. The burnt-offering and the meat-offering 
are offered upon it. 30-32. The laver we may suppose to be twenty-five feet from 
the altar, and from the door of the tent of meeting. Sholl wash, will have washed 
whenever they proceed to the altar or the sanctuary. 32. Wash This expresses the 
rule and custom of those engaged in the service of the tabernacle. 33. The whole is 
completed by the erection of the court. We observe in the rearing up of the taber- 
nacle that every part of the ritual service is declared to be commenced as the corre- 
sponding part of the furniture is put in its place — the bread laid on the table, the 
lighted lamps set on the candlestick, the incense kindled on the altar of gold, and the 
appropriate offerings made on the altar of brass. This may mean either that these 
acts were done on the instant or in due course of events. In the absence of any 
reason to the contrary, we may presume the former to be the fact. In this case the 
setting up of the service corresponds with the history of salvation. The ark, with 



EXODUS XL. 34-38. 331 

its inclosed testimony, mercy- seat, and overshadowing cherubim, indicates the pur- 
pose of salvation in the mind of the present Deity. The bread, the light, and the 
incense shadow forth the actual blessings and privileges of the saved on account of 
the atonement yet to be made. The altar of brass and the laver are the emblems of 
atonement and renewal eventually accomplished in the history of mankind. The 
process for the individual is now reversed. When the burnt-offering and meat-offer- 
ing have ascended the altar, the atonement has been typically made and accepted. 
When the priest cleanses himself at the laver the internal holiness is symbolized. 
Then follows the intercession, represented by the incense on the golden altar. After 
that the full communion of holiness and blessing. And lastly, the union with God is 
sealed for ever. 

34-38. Then follows an event of solemn import, which is best expressed in the sim- 
ple language of the text. Moses was not able. In the first overwhelming display of 
the divine glory the tabernacle was not to be approached by man. The after pro- 
ceedings, however, are not here recorded. We have to wait for them till we reach the 
subsequent books. This manifestation of the divine glory indicates the acceptance of 
the tabernacle and of the worship that is now commenced in it. 36. When the cloud 
was lifted up. This intimates that from this time forward the cloud continued resting 
on the tabernacle. The lifting of it up was the signal of departure. The cloud by 
day and the fire by night were conspicuous before the eyes of " all the house of Israel 
in aU their journeys." Young and old, male and female, the numbered and mar- 
shalled host and the wandering clans tending their flocks and herds, were alike spec- 
tators of this wondrous sign of the divine presence, of the central encampment of 
.their race, and of their perfect security under the divine protection. With this beau- 
tiful thought and cheering fact the sacred writer closes his account of an act which is 
the consummation of the exodus. Some circumstances antecedent to the rearing of 
the tabernacle and many inseparably connected with it, have yet to be recorded. 
But the fine taste of the narrator taught him that the descent of the divine glory upon 
the erected tabernacle was the fitting conclusion of this stage of his unparalleled nar- 
rative. 

The nations of the earth are no longer visibly one on the momentous question of 
allegiance to God. The holy nation has publicly come out from the world. The 
great body of mankind has become gradually more and more estranged from the true 
and living God. Four hundred and thirty years ago Abraham has been called to sep- 
arate himself from his father' s home and land in preparation for this sad event. 
And now, when the process of human ungodliness is come to a head, a little nation 
sprung from him stands forth as a witness for God, a light in the midst of darkness, 
and a salt that is yet to preserve the earth. This little people is itself the type and 
germ of all coming stages of the kingdom of God on earth. Cradled in persecution, 
it yet escapes to the wilderness, and is fed with manna from the sky and water from 
the rock, by the omnipotent word of God. Its conscience is awakened by the pro- 
mulgation of the moral law, and then led from the despair of guilt to the calmness of 
peace with God through the symbolic propitiation of the tabernacle. In the infancy 
of its mind it is wisely and kindly trained by the use of appropriate symbols to grasp 
the transcendent thoughts of mercy and truth, of righteousness and peace, of atone- 
ment, of redemption, and regeneration. The roots of bitterness again and again burst 
through the soil and shoot up into a baneful luxuriance. Nevertheless, the planting 
of the Lord has taken root, and has been growing and gathering strength again after 



232 



THE TABERI>rACLE SET UP. 



many storms and amidst many thorns througli all the course of time. If Genesis tells 
of that first disobedience that brought death into the world of mankind, Exodus speaks 
with cheering hope of that suffering but surviving obedience that brings eternal life 
to the returning penitent. These two books, then, contain the pith and marrow of 
the ancient gospel ; Leviticus and Numbers being subsidiary, and Deuteronomy a 
recapitulation. From the death of Joseph, the last event in Genesis, to the rearing 
of the tabernacle, is an interval of about one hundred and forty years, as may be 
gathered from the following table : 



EVEKT. 


Age of 
Father. 


Date of 
Event. 


Interval. 


Date of 
Death. 


Abraham called, at the age of 175 




2078 


30 
60 
91 
39 
71 
59 
80 


2183 


Birth of Isaac, 
Birth of Jacob, 
Birth of Joseph, 


180 

147 
110 


2108 j 
2168 [ 
2259^ 


2288 
2315 
2369 


Jacob's descent into Egypt, 




2298' 




Death of Joseph, 




2369' 




Birth of Moses, 

Exodus, 

From call of Abraham to exodus, 




2428' 
2508' 




430 







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